Fading Phenomena
by Igor Lollipop
Summary: Year after Beyond B&W. Profile for full summary. Someone is running around the universe destroying the worlds again. But this time, it's with light. As Sora&co. look for the source of this evil, they discover that failure will result in the end... of them
1. I Opening

**A/n: Welcome to the new story, guys! When I say new, I also mean that this is the first chapter I am revising. Yay! There are some slight differences in this chapter, but I definitely suggest reading it.**

**Actually, if you really care (my old readers), I suggest rereading the **_**whole **_**story. Thanks. :D**

**The title is... in the works? xDD Yeah, you know me. Every time I have a new story, the title is always changed once. Ah well. Anyway, for those of you who just happened about this story, this story is a **_**sequel**_** and the fourth in the series. Wow. Fourth. That's a **_**lot**_**. Anyway, the first is the Two-Sided Heart, followed by A Nobody's War, and finally Beyond Black and White. Please read them in order or else you probably won't understand what's going on.**

**This plot was made by The-Lesser-of-Two-Goods although I may tweak it a little as we go? Thank you, Lesser. :D A more in depth summary is in my profile!**

**This story will involve a lot more of the Disney movies, by the way. No more Pirates, though, unless I make something up. xD This takes place a year after the last story (some months after the epilogue). You can guess who we're starting off with. Lolz.**

**Disclaimer - Let's have Stefa do this one...**

**Stefa: -Yawns- Lolli does not own Kingdom Hearts, just me, the other OCs, and the plot... -Yawns again-**

**Riku: You're pathetic, Stefa. -laughs-**

**Quince: Yeah, sleeping for a year and you're **_**still**_** tired**

**Chapter One: Opening**

_'Live, I wanna live inspired._

_Die, I wanna die for something.'_

**"Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)" by Anberlin**

Twilight Town was quiet and sleepy as dawn broke over it. Around the whole world, almost no one was awake aside from those few insomniacs, bad ass teenagers, and graveyard shift workers.

Deep in the once sealed off woods lay an old mansion that was as quiet as the rest of the world. In the beautiful white room on the second floor, a nineteen year old boy with honeycomb blond hair spiked upward lay on his back on a white leather couch in the room. Snuggled into his chest was a platinum blond-haired girl of the same age wearing a bleach white sun dress.

Every once in a while, a mouse or two scurried across the foyer of the mansion, but there really was no other noise.

Going against the actions of the rest of the denizens of the world, someone stirred deep within the mansion depths. Located several hallways down from the secret lab lay a bright white pod room. The only other coloring in the room was on the purple and green floor and the slight blue coloring of the large pod.

For the first time in a year, the person within the pod slowly began to stir against her better judgement.

When her forest green eyes opened (with much coaxing on their owner's part), she couldn't see much else besides something that looked like white smoke and the little bit of light that penetrated the pod. Naturally, she awoke with confusion, but she expressed this confusion in her own, special way.

The girl inside began to pound on the pod until it opened up like a blooming flower. She tumbled out onto her knees. Her legs wobbled as she stood and looked around the room. After not recognizing it much, she stumbled out of the room and down the blue hallway that was filled with even more pods. Once again, she didn't recognize it much.

Finally, when she reached the main lab, she realized where she was and smiled with satisfaction. Her stomach grumbled at her as she made for the stairs in half a daze; It was amazing how hungry she was. What might have been more amazing was the fact that she felt like she hadn't walked in _forever_.

She followed the staircase up and out of the library and went downstairs in the foyer. A quick glance at the glass doors leading to the courtyard told her that the sun was only just beginning to wake up. "What a... weird dream." She murmured to herself, surprised at how raspy her voice sounded. "Geez."

"Great, you're finally awake!" A voice from the second level startled her, causing a sword-like Keyblade to flash into her right hand in an instant. Upon catching sight of the person on the second level, the Keyblade disappeared, and she smiled.

"Naminé."

**xxxxxx**

The morning was not as peaceful and quiet for all worlds, however. In a large, brilliant white castle in yet another world, a certain mouse king was rubbing his temples as he stared at a large computer screen with dismay. The King was in his office, listening intently to what the person on the screen was saying to him. "Another world, ya said?" The mouse asked in a squeaky voice to the man on screen.

The man nodded his brunet head slowly. "Yes, Your Majesty. Another world's been drowned in light." This man had a scar running across the bridge of his nose, and his azure eyes were filled with grief.

"I thought that we were done with these problems after that war, Leon." sighed the King with a disdainful expression. "We take out the darkness and now we have ta deal with the light!" The man, Leon, smiled meekly as the King continued to angrily rant about their new unknown enemy. "Ya still dunno who can be causing this?"

Leon shook his head. "No idea, King Mickey." The King nodded slowly.

"Alright. Keep me posted." Leon went to click off the screen but paused in mid-movement.

"Sir, that's three worlds already. If you don't mind me asking, when are you going to warn the others?"

"When the time's right." Was all Mickey replied with before clicking off the screen. The mouse sank back into his chair and sighed. He _would_ have to warn the other Keyblade wielders eventually so that they were prepared, but he hadn't yet. Why? That was one thing only he knew.

The screen that had disappeared shortly after Mickey had ended the call, reappeared in the room, causing him to frown somewhat. "Incoming call from Twilight Town." A robotic woman's voice stated. Surprised, Mickey connected the line.

The tired looking blonde, Naminé, appeared on the screen and smiled brightly at the mouse. "Good morning, Your Majesty." She chirped in an obviously pleased tone. It took a lot of self-restraint for Mickey not to reply with: 'That's debatable.'

"Good morning, Naminé. It must be really early over there. What do you need?" He asked as he sat up straighter in his chair. Naminé merely grinned and moved over a little.

"Nothing, really. But I figured you might be pleased to know of Sleeping Beauty's awakening." She replied, receiving a puzzled look from Mickey, who thought she might have been speaking of the Princess of Heart. When another face joined hers in the screen, he gasped.

**xxxxxx**

Another lazy Saturday morning was upon Destiny Islands and its denizens. An auburn-haired girl found herself sitting on the long tree on the child's island. To that day, she considered the tree to be hers and her two best friends in the world; One of which was her husband-to-be. For the longest time, she had taken to wearing t-shirts or tanks with jean shorts or capris, but today she found herself wearing something buried deep within her closet: A pink dress with a white undershirt along with her old, light purple gym shoes. She couldn't explain why she'd picked the wardrobe, but she had.

It was still pretty early, maybe about nine in the morning, so she expected to be alone on the island for a while. That's why when someone came up behind her, she nearly jumped into the ocean. A strong hand grabbed her wrist to prevent her from doing so, and she found herself staring into the seafoam green eyes of her silver-haired best friend. "Good morning, Riku." She said although it was in a rather shocked tone that caused him to frown a little.

"You're not happy to see me?" He asked with an expectant expression. She easily recovered from her initial shock and smiled.

"Of course I'm happy to see you!" She replied, patting a spot on the tree trunk beside her. He hurled over it and plopped beside her. "What are you doing here so early?"

Chuckling, Riku responded, "I could ask you the same thing, Kairi." Older she had become, but her personality still resembled that of her fourteen year old self.

"It was weird," She replied, giving into Riku. "I just woke up with this weird feeling and decided to come here until you and Sora arrived." Much to her surprise, Riku nodded.

"Same here." He remarked as his eyes drifted to the bright, yellow sun hanging in the sky. "I just feel like something's going to happen."

Kairi frowned a little before fixing her indigo eyes on the sun as well. "Hopefully nothing like a Heartless invasion."

Riku shook his head and tousled her hair. "Doubtful." They sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes until Kairi broke it.

"Do you think Sora will regain his ability to wield a Keyblade?" She murmured softly without looking at him, surprising Riku with her question.

"Nalani's looking into it, but I don't know." Riku replied carefully. "It's dangerous, what she's doing. If she gets in too deep, she can fall into darkness."

Kairi silently nodded her agreement. "Hey!" A voice called from the dock. Their eyes simultaneously snapped to the spiky brunet boy as he waved at them.

"What took you so long?" Riku shouted back at his childhood friend, grinning.

"Yeah, you lazy bum!" added Kairi with a mischievous smile.

**xxxxxx**

It was too early, yet Naminé and Stefa found themselves moving over to the Clock tower with Sea Salt ice creams in hand. After their nice, rather short conversation with King Mickey, he had elected to tell the others himself, and Naminé caught Stefa up on what she had missed, which wasn't much. Stefa full out grinned when she learned that Nalani had come to visit her every day.

"What's everyone up to?" asked Stefa in a soft voice. By 'everyone' Naminé knew she meant Quince.

The facial expression of the blonde turned as sour as when she mentioned the daily sea salt ice creams Nalani had brought. "He's been around almost as much as Nalani. Like Pence, he sometimes ate your ice cream." She remarked with a soft giggle. "He'll be so excited to see you again."

Stefa tried not to show her surprise or blush. "I see." Was all she could will herself to say. Her lips upturned in a big smile that she'd been trying to hold back. "Uh, how are the other worlds?" She added in a hasty attempt to hide her embarrassment.

"From what we've heard, they're just fine. There doesn't seem to be suspicious activity anywhere, King Mickey said." Naminé replied with a curt nod. "All is well, I guess." Stefa stretched.

"My clothes feel just a tad tighter on me; I should probably head back to Jewel's Grove, anyway, but I need..." Pausing, Stefa looked around as if she hadn't realized it before. "Where's Reixka?"

Naminé bit her lip and smiled sheepishly. "She _really_ likes her freedom, Stefa..."

**xxxxxx**

"Cane, sir," The fiery red-haired boy entered his Superior's office for what had to have been the tenth time that day. "Their attack on Halloween Town was a success."

The man named Cane drummed his fingers against the arms of his chair. As always, he was faced toward the window and away from his underling and the door. "Good, good... I'm quite surprised that the Keyblade wielders aren't out for our blood yet," He mused.

The boy nodded his head. "We've made it so that it's very hard to trace us, sir." He paused. "The way our success in snuffing out these worlds is making me wonder if they even _know_..." He added.

Cane chuckled. "Perhaps that mouse has finally decided to let them have an imitation of a peaceful life. Too bad for them that we _will_ get them eventually," He pounded the arm of his chair and stomped his foot so hard that paintings in the room shook. "We _must_." He whirled around in his chair to face his colleague and smile. "You are doing well, Aidan. Perhaps if you keep up the good work, you will get a heart after all."

A large smile graced Aidan's lips, increasing his overall attractiveness ten fold. However, he balked somewhat at his master's face. "Th-thank you, sir."  


* * *

**A/n: Alright, as I said, a few changes in this one, but the story is going to get very revised soon.**

**It wasn't much, but the beginning of a new story are almost always slow. I was going to start it with something a bit more fast-paced, but I decided not to.**


	2. II: Your Black Dress in Disarray

**Chapter II:**

**Your Black Dress in Disarray**

**A/n: 6.7.09: I found the original version of this chapter hiding on another computer. :3 Good thing, too, because the newer version had some scary mistakes. Of course, I still kept some stuff from the newer chapter the same.**

Old note: **I suppose the pairings are set. Which means that I'mma twist some shit. Oh yes. This story is, by the way, rated T for language and violence along with some sexual content.**

**Regardless that I have just one review (thank you, Lesser -heart), I'm moving this along as fast as I can so that I can get up all of my ideas before I go on vacation and forget them all. By the way, I fixed the link for the pictures on my profile.**

**This chapter is inspired by Dance Dance Christa Paffgen.**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts, got it memorized? :D**

_'_ _Your black dress in disarray  
Only dance floor prayers can save  
Temperatures rise and I start to move  
But it's you that's coursing through my veins.__'_**  
-"Dance Dance Christa Paffgen" by Anberlin**

**

* * *

  
**

Yes, it was true: Reixka really had taken a liking to her new life. There was no way that she was going down easy, either. Stefa ran a hand through her too-long hair (that was one thing the magic of the pod hadn't taken care of: Trimming her hair) as she entered the Sandlot. She was genuinely surprised not to see Seifer and his around and instead found Reixka and Axel.

Smiling, she took one step forward, then hesitated. The two of them looked really happy, and Stefa found herself wishing that there was a way to make Reixka whole like Naminé or Roxas, but that wasn't possible. Slowly but surely, she approached the two of them.

Reixka whirled around, sensing the other presence, her long braid turning as she did. Pure shock was written all over her face. Stefa smiled sheepishly to ease the tension. "Hi, Axel, Reixka," She greeted them meekly. Axel smiled slowly, but Reixka's face remained impassive.

She took a piece of brunet hair loose from her hair and began to twirl it. Stefa's smile slowly dropped off of her face as she felt the sadness pouring from her Nobody. Reixka's body flickered in and out of existence before she finally opened her mouth. "Can I talk to Axel alone, please?" Her Nobody asked in a carefully controlled voice.

Stefa nodded and walked away from them, glancing at the chalk board with information about the struggle matches. Reixka bit her lip as she turned back to Axel. "I guess that's it. Well, it's been fun." She turned and made to walk away, but Axel's hand quickly caught her wrist and turned her back around.

"You've spent this much time with me for a year and that's all I get? I don't think so." He remarked with one eyebrow raised. "It's not like this is the last time we'll see each other." Axel added in a much softer voice. Slowly, Reixka nodded her agreement.

"I guess you're right." She agreed without much emotion. Rolling his eyes, Axel leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

**xxxxxx**

Afternoon was slowly falling upon Disney Castle. In Mickey's office, a duck with a staff and a dog covered in armor stood before him with their hands to their foreheads in a salute position. He had just finished telling them about the newest world to be overtaken by the light along with the news of Stefa's awakening. "Your Majesty, don't you think we should tell Nalani...?" The duck quacked, trailing off as he thought of his old apprentice who was now living in the Castle with them.

"We probably should, Donald," King Mickey agreed with a small nod. "I still want to keep the information about the worlds between the three of us for now, okay?" Donald exchanged an uneasy glance with his dog-like companion.

"But, Yer Majesty, shouldn't we tell them so that they can be prepared?" asked the dog.

King Mickey stayed silent for a moment or two. "I just want them to be happy." He finally murmured in a defeated tone. The other two took this as a hint to take their leave, so they bowed out of the door.

Donald led the way down the large corridor, following the red carpet to the Courtyard. "He's really worried, Goofy. I can tell even if he won't admit it."

The dog named Goofy nodded. "Yeah! He really just wants Sora and them to have a peaceful life, too."

"Keyblade wielders _can't_ have peaceful lives." Donald remarked bitterly as they entered the bright Courtyard in their search for Nalani.

They found her sitting on the main hedge, dangling her legs over the edge as she spoke to the man beside her. Her hair still held its dark auburn color, and there was still a second layer of black. She was wearing her 'green is the new black' t-shirt with green and blue plaid shorts. She seemed relatively happy as she basked in the sun.

The man beside her had medium-length black hair with blue tips. His eyes were dark and even his smile seemed to hold a sinister edge. This was none other than Nalani's boyfriend of a year, Arach. "I've never asked you this, but where is your home world? It's obviously not Jewel's Grove." The mage asked with an intrigued expression.

Arach leaned back and his expression became thoughtful. "You know, I don't really remember." He murmured with a half-smile. "It's been a really long time since I've been home since it was destroyed after all..."

"Nalani!" Donald's angry quack dragged the two of them out of their conversation. Goofy gave them a small wave while Donald hopped up and down. "We've got news for you!" Nalani rolled her eyes; the duck was always quick to lose his temper. She hopped off of the hedge and landed on all fours in front of Donald. Brushing off her knees, she stared down at her mentor with an expectant expression.

"What is it?"

**xxxxxx**

Leaning against a wall on the other side of the Sandlot, Stefa took out her year old compact and dialed Quince's number, expecting that he would still have it. It took a while, but he finally picked up, his hair messy. "Did I wake you up?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Slowly, he nodded as if he didn't recognize that it was her. "Quince? Don't you remember me?" She added in a hurt voice.

"Of course, Stefa," replied Quince groggily. He still appeared to be the same as before. He was wearing a red t shirt, and his usually straight brown hair was all over the place. "Are you coming home? I need to clean up badly." He added at her nod.

"I'll be home in twenty, I guess." Stefa murmured as the screen clicked off and Quince's face disappeared. Most likely, the dumb boy had stayed up all night or something. For all she knew, it could be early in Jewel's Grove, too. Now she felt a tidbit bad. Something cold and sharp was pointed at the back of her neck, causing her skin to prickle unpleasantly. Another unpleasant feeling was building inside of her, but it had more to do with her thoughts and less to do with a weapon.

"Don't move; I'm Kira." The familiar voice remarked, causing Stefa to beam as she whirled around. However, what she faced and what she had heard were two totally different things.

Arach was grinning with his Keyblade held up while Nalani, who had spoken, was standing behind him. Frowning, Stefa took one step away from Arach out of reaction. Nalani's glomp cut down her defense. "The glomp! The glomp! The never-ending glomp! The glomp, the glomp, the glomp, the glomp. The never-ending... Glomp," ended Nalani shortly as she tousled Stefa's hair and released her neck.

"Nalani," Stefa cried happily, and added with a distinct amount of coldness, "Arach."

Nalani seized Stefa in a headlock. "Aw, don't be like that. He's_ good_ now."

"That's not what you like about him!" laughed the blonde as her taller friend finally released her.

"Why don't you go in the alley and act like morons?" A male voice suggested from somewhere behind them.

A blond boy wearing a black beanie with the kanji 'ore' was standing before a group of three people. His expression was smug, and it made Arach want to punch him badly... But he was a pacifist now.

A short sigh was heard along with two pairs of feet as Axel and Reixka joined them. "Seifer, I've kicked your ass enough times to last me a lifetime, so why don't you be a good boy and write graffiti somewhere?" asked Axel with a wide grin that caused Seifer to recoil.

"Don't talk to Seifer like that, y'know!" The tallest member of the group, a dark-skinned muscular boy shouted from behind the blond.

Nalani rolled her eyes. "No, I don't know. Why don't you tell me?" The boy, Rai, frowned and backed off.

The only girl in Seifer's gang, Fuu, nodded. "Indeed."

It took a lot of self-control on Reixka's part not to point out that the particular word made no sense in their conversation. Instead, she turned toward Stefa. "Let's go home."

**xxxxxx**

**-Jewel's Grove: Stefa's House-**

Being the pig that Stefa knew Quince could be, she wondered how messy the house would be when they arrived. The bad feeling in her gut became worse as she turned her key in the doorknob and crossed through the doorway; what she could see of the house was a literal sty. It wasn't like he wasn't allowed to sleep on an actual bed or something, so why would he sleep out there, on the broken cot...?

It looked like someone had had a bad night (tossing and turning) or someone had had some sex or hardcore making out. Stefa hoped for the prior. "Quince?" Stefa called upstairs. He dashed out of the bathroom at once while rubbing a white towel over his messy, wet hair.

He grinned, and it really did look like him now. The house looked pretty clean other than the cot and the kitchen, but it was Nalani to first notice it. "Wow, who would've thought that Quince can cook?" She announced loudly so that everyone would hear her.

Reixka rolled her eyes at the mage. "I liked it better when I didn't have to see you."

Nalani poked at some of the dishes in the sink and recoiled as something hissed at her. She didn't bother facing Reixka, as she chirped, "Same here." The mess in the kitchen explained why the rest of the house was so clean. Apparently, Quince thought if he made the rest of the house [mostly] spotless that no one would notice the maggots writhing on the stove.

Arach raised an eyebrow at Quince as he and Stefa entered the kitchen in a lip-lock. "Very hot and cute, but, dude, haven't you ever heard of a dishwasher? They made 'em so that morons like you can have dishes to eat off of."

Quince raised a hand to show Arach a not-so-nice gesture. "PDA!" Nalani abruptly shouted; Stefa had it coming to her. Every time that girl had caught Arach and Nalani going at it, she'd done the same...

The pair in the corner of the kitchen broke away simply for the luxury of being able to breathe. While Stefa's eyes were bright with happiness, Quince's were more or less glazed over with a cool indifference. "I've had to go without that for a year. That's just not fair." Stefa said to, more or less, both Quince and Nalani.

Her best friend laughed. "Yeah, what would I do if I had to go without that one for a day?" She joked as she jabbed a finger back at Arach.

Reixka picked up a skillet on the stove with freshly made eggs in it and blinked at Quince. "You made breakfast for us?"

"Actually, just for Stefa and I," replied Quince with an arrogant smile. Nalani punched him in the arm.

"Oh, sure. We just came all the way here just to walk all the way back to my house. Well, fine; we'll go visit while we're here. See you later, Stefa. Come on, Arach." The mage added, tugging on Arach's arm, who had obviously recalled his previous awkward moments with her parents and did not want to relive them.

The Nobody jabbed a finger at Stefa as she made her way out of the kitchen. "Just be glad that I ate before this. I guess I'll go out and see... your family. They like me. And I'll inform them of your return. Of course that means they'll be epically pissed you didn't see them first, but, hey, what do I know? I'm just a Nobody," raged Reixka before slamming the front door behind her.

Quince and Stefa exchanged glances before bursting into laughter. "That was... odd." He remarked. "Nothing less than what I expected, though."

Stefa threw her arms around his neck. "You made breakfast, you surprisingly gifted idiot! I love you."

His meek smile only held for a minute before disappearing. "Well… we really have to talk. Like you said, a year is a long time."

**XxxxxX**

King Mickey sighed as he went over the conversation in his head. Sure, the initial shock would ensue, but hopefully it wouldn't be too bad. Well, how exactly were they supposed to take it as good news that there was some new enemy taking out worlds with _light_, the one thing that they had more or less trusted in.

Actually, it might have made Riku a bit pleased. Heaving one more sigh, Mickey put a call through to Riku, the one that he was closest to out of the group of three.

When Riku answered the call on the first ring,his expression didn't hold a speck of surprise. Sora and Kairi leaned over either one of his shoulders with expressions the polar opposite of Riku's. "Your Majesty? What is it?" The brunet asked worriedly.

Rubbing his temples, the King tried to force a smile. He failed. "Fellas, I have somethin' to tell ya, and it won't be easy to hear..."

"Someone's out conquering the worlds?" guessed Riku in a rather bored tone. King Mickey nodded earnestly, glad to have Riku to push things along.

"Someone's using light to drown different worlds; I have a feelin' that it might have to do with Kingdom Hearts again." The mouse sighed quite audibly.

Kairi shook her head. "Why can't they just leave Kingdom Hearts alone?" She asked in a rather childish tone. "Along with the worlds."

"Light this time, though, huh?" asked Riku as he quietly contemplated the thought. "It can't be helped that people want control over Kingdom Hearts. It's pretty much the source of all power."

"But we sealed it more times than one!" argued Sora.

King Mickey smiled sheepishly. "It might have something to do with Quince's brother. Working under Maleficent, he had to have learned a thing or two from her and Xemnas." The others inclined their heads slowly.

"Where do we start?" Sora asked in the courageous tone that he usually brought out when he heard that he was going on yet another mission.

"The Radiant Garden," decided King Mickey with a curt nod. "I think you'll find some old friends there, anyway." He smiled with satisfaction at the looks on their face as he screen clicked off.

**xxxxxx**

**-Later in the Radiant Garden-**

The message from King Mickey had made its way into Reixka's hands, and she'd promptly delivered it to Nalani and Arach. The only way the Nobody had been able to leave Stefa's family's house was by swearing that Stefa would come visit soon.

The Jewel's Grove group arrived, via portal, in the Radiant Garden shortly after Quince and Stefa spent a suspicious amount of time at her house. Nothing seemed to come out of it as Stefa looked extremely jittery and Quince just appeared uninterested. Stefa nervously toyed with a long silver chain with black hearts and other charms on it. Her hands were shaking with a force that should've broken the chain right off. The group found themselves faced with something eerily familiar.

They were standing in the remodeled Marketplace with a bunch of shoppers corralled in the middle by, what looked like, small, white foxes. "Those are..." Stefa trailed off, glaring at the rather cute animals.

"Luces," finished Nalani. "Yeah." The luces sniffed at the air and turned around to face them, apparently recognizing them as the enemy.

The cute creatures bared their sharp teeth and lunged at the four of them as their weapons flashed into their hands. Quince and Stefa, unlike Nalani and Arach, weren't used to carrying their weapons and had to flail at the luces in order to defeat them while the other two elegantly killed the light creatures.

When all of the luces were gone, the crowd ran over to them, shouting their thanks. "It's no problem, really," replied Stefa sheepishly as the crowd continued to ambush them.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we've got here." A male's voice from the other side of the Marketplace called out. The crowd parted like the Red Sea as the man made his way over to them.

Quince's knuckles turned white as he gripped the handle of his Keyblade a little more. Beside him, Nalani chirped, "Cinnamon the Fucked Up Care Bear, what took you so long?" The mage was grinning maliciously, a trait that, contrary to normal belief, hadn't come from being with Arach.

Cina smirked and ran a hand through his hair. "Still acting as immature as ever, I see. It seems that some things really don't change with age where certain people are concerned." His eyes flickered to Stefa, and his grin became more malicious. "Her, for example; The only thing that's changed is her clothes. Still very attractive, might I add?"

Heat rushed to Stefa's face, but she still managed a glare.

"Of course I am: I only just woke up, thanks to you."

He put a hand to his chest and feigned a hurt expression. "Me? Whatever do you mean? I may have tricked you, but is it my fault that you couldn't fight off your dark side?"

Quince, who had been quietly grinding his teeth together, rushed at his brother at last. "Why don't you back off?"

"Why don't you make me, Quincey?" The other man hissed just as Stefa snapped, "I don't need you to defend me." Arach followed Quince's lead immediately, as did Nalani.

A light engulfed Stefa shortly and she held out her left hand to call upon Sakura Dawning. Then, she, too jumped into the fray.

Shopkeepers and shoppers alike exited the Marketplace screaming their heads off, the only other sound the wielders could hear aside from Cina's weak attempts to deter them from their goal.

Several wolf heartless appeared in the area before help arrived. A rather girly Keyblade whizzed through the air and shish-kabobbed two of the wolves. Another Keyblade with a demonic and angelic wing was thrown in the same fashion and killed another pair.

Cina grinned maniacally. "What a great reunion! I'd love to stick around, but I have to plot a way to kill you all. Until next time." He promptly disappeared into a swirling portal, and Quince's jaw snapped shut with an audible sound.

**xxxxxx**

This was all too much for her first day of being awake, but Stefa couldn't deny how happy she was to see Kairi again. The two girls hugged each other in death grips following the short-lived battle. They then made their way to Merlin's house to see even more people that she hadn't seen in a while.

Inside of the kitchen, everyone gathered around the table where, a year ago, some crazy things had occurred after a night of drinking. When Stefa sat down beside her, Nalani whispered, "What's wrong?" She was quiet enough so that no one else could hear them.

Stefa bit her lip and didn't answer for a moment or two. How did Nalani always _know_? Then, she had to remind herself that they'd been best friends for forever. If she didn't know, then Stefa should have been concerned. "What did Quince do?" Nalani added in an angrier tone as she threw a glare at the brunet across the table.

"Later," was all Stefa managed to respond with as Leon began to speak. The Radiant Garden, where it had previously been ruled by King Ansem in a monarch, didn't really _have_ a government anymore. Especially considering that Aerith, Yuffie, and Rinoa had died, the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee hadn't been as strong, but that was how the world was ruled for the time being.

"Cinahem was in the Marketplace, huh?" Leon mused as he considered this. "Be that as it may be, I don't think he could be using Luces, do you?"

The unanimous shaking of heads around the table was answer enough. "Do these Luce invasions happen often?" Naminé, now looking much more awake, asked.

A woman with long, dark brown nodded her head, "Yes, but I don't know who could be up to it. This is the first time anyone's reported seeing Cinahem, or any other mysterious figure around. As far as we know, no one else has been around." She remarked before waving to Nalani and Stefa.

Arach, leaning back in his chair, suggested, "Maybe whoever created them is just sending them to worlds at random." At the others' expressions, he added, "A luce is nothing more than light made into a creature. At least, I think so." Riku inclined his head ever so slightly. Sounded good enough to him.

"Anyway, there's probably a new keyhole to seal the Radiant Garden around here. This place is big, though, guys, so you're all going to have to split up," informed Leon, causing collective groans around the table.

"I'm still trying to remember _how_ to use a Keyblade," sighed Stefa. "Contrary to normal belief, it's not like riding a bicycle. Which, by the way, if I attempted at this moment, I'd probably fall over and get crushed by said bicycle."

Sora stood up, taking on his leader persona. "I'll split us up. Riku, Stefa, and Nalani can taken on the Ravine Trail and everything past there and split up from there. Quince, Arach, and Axel **(A/N: Oh, **_**that's**_** a fun group. xDDD)** can take on the trail to the Castle and the inside of the Castle. Kairi, Naminé, and Roxas... try the neighborhood to the left of the Great Maw. Me... Oh, I'm the only one left."

A woman with medium-length brown hair with one strand that was tied in a long braid in her back entered the room with a mousse haired woman wearing mostly black. "You can stay here with us." The woman with the brown hair, Yuna, assured him with a sympathetic smile. Sighing, Sora sat back down in the chair.

"Actually, Sora," Riku remarked with a partial grin in the doorway of the kitchen, "You can probably kill those things with this." He threw the all too familiar play sword at Sora, causing the spiky-haired boy to both blush and roll his eyes.

"The rest of us should do what we can to take care of these luces," replied Tifa with a curt nod. "Even if it means beating them to death with a child's sword." She added with a wink that caused Sora to turn strawberry red.

As Nalani and Stefa stood up and began to dive into their own conversation, Leon said, "We have a... special job for you, Nalani, but that's later. For now, go with Riku and Stefa."

**xxxxxxx**

"I think we should go _this_ way." Quince growled at Arach and Axel who simply stared at him with amusement. They hadn't gotten very far up the path to the Castle; They were only at the part where the road forked.

Axel nodded. "Alright, _you_ go that way, and _we'll _go this way." He stated as he and Arach walked forward, leaving Quince to go down the other path on his own. When he climbed up the ledge and dropped down into the small pit, three Morning Stars were there to greet him.

"Damn it!"

**xxxxxx**

Nalani and Stefa allowed Riku to scout out ahead, taking out Luces and the neighborhood Heartless as he went. They took out the excess as they talked. "I haven't been home in a while; Maybe I should have been watching him," sighed Nalani once Stefa finished repeating what Quince had told her. "But, he made you breakfast just to break up wth you? _Seriously_?" hissed Nalani with nothing less than disgust. "After, of course, he slept with one of our old friends from school,"

Riku tried to appear as uninterested as possible, but what he could hear of their conversation was rather concerncing. But not for him. Why should he care? He knew that something like this would happen between Quince and Stefa. _'But that doesn't mean she deseves it,'_ a voice reminded him. He forced his mind to drift back to several years back when Stefa (Keira at the time) had told everyone about her rocky relationship with Quince. As friends and otherwise.

"So, then, maybe you should be with someone who doesn't spend more time on his hair than you do," Nalani spoke loud enough to make every word clear to Riku. "Oh, wait. He might actually spend more time, sorry, Stefa."

Riku abruptly stop to purposely cause the girls to walk ino him. "What was that?" He asked with an innocent smile. "I'm sorry, Stefa, aren't things working out with Quince?" His tone was playful, not cruel.

Her cheeks burned and she looked down. He couldn't hear her words exactly, but it sounded a lot like she was muttering to Nalani, "I don't know why you get me into things like this."

Nalani simply replied, "Because Quince is a girly man who doesn't deserve you. Riku, on the other hand, is almost good enough for you."

Riku chuckled quietly. "Maybe you two should talk less about me and worry more about those Luces you're walking on." Sure enough, when they looked down, there were trampled and dazed Luces all are over the place. A quick thundaga spell took them out.

As the two girls and Riku laughed as they walked through the Great Maw (or cemetery), a man with a strange machine over his left eye watched them from one of the top ledges. He was obviously debating on whether or not to strike considering that the three walking through weren't exactly weak. At least, Riku was _very_ strong, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to deal with that.

Aidan appeared out of a black and purple vortex behind him and frowned. "The hell are you waiting for? You know your orders!" He barked in a tone very unlike him. The man rolled his eyes.

"Since when do I take orders from a brat like _you_?" He asked, raising one eyebrow. Aidan's eyes slit into a glare.

"Since the Superior _said_ so," growled Aidan in the most ferocious voice possible, which was frightening enough. "Do it, Cina. Or else." Dusks appeared around him in a circle, dancing and awaiting their orders.

Cina chuckled maniacally. "You don't think I can't turn those Nobodies on you?" He paused and added almost immediately, "When do you think they'll go after Kingdom Hearts? I need to time myself correctly after all."

Rolling his eyes, Aidan responded, "Not for a while. Now _go_." He gave Cina rough push that sent him sliding down the side of the Great Maw, landing promptly in front of the Mage and two Keyblade wielders. Their weapons flashed into their hands.

Why was it they had to be the ones to discover Cinahem?

* * *

**A/n: 6.7.09: I decided to mush together elements of the original chapter along with the newer version. The newer one had some kinda scary mistakes. For example, Nalani definitely does not wield a Keyblade. D;**

Old note: **So, that's the last chapter that's going to be up for a week, I think. I'll start typing the next one, naturally, but it probably won't get up. Please review, and I will see you all in the next chapter. Bye bye!**


	3. III: Walking in Circles

**Chapter III:  
Walking in Circles**

**A/n: This chapter has been sitting on my computer for a while, but I've been too lazy to finish editing it. Dx Just a heads up, I'm probably not going to be too detailed from here on out... I just want to bridge the gap between my stories, so I'm going to, more or less, stick to the main ideas. I'll re-add details later. :3**

**Disclaimer - If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I'd be going to Disney Land and not South Carolina. xD **--- Olddisclaimerlolz.

_' Kono karada de utketa kieski wo karassnai you ni  
_

_Hajimete mita hikari wa mabushikatta_

_Saa hora.'_

**-"Seed" by Mami Kawada**

**

* * *

  
**

"Why don't you make things easy for us, Cinnamon?" began Nalani with a vicious glare. "Tell us how to give Sora the ability to wield a Keyblade back."

Cina chuckled quietly. "What's wrong? Can your hearts no longer guide you?" The mage's firaga spell missed his head by centimeters.

Stefa gritted her teeth together. "You act like you don't even _have_ one anymore." He didn't answer, only chuckled, confirming their suspicions enough.

"What, did you trade your heart in for power?" asked Riku without any real surprise before running at the evil wielder.

**xxxxxx**

Patiently, Axel and Arach waited at the Postern for Quince to join them. He appeared to them some moments later with his hair messed up, cuts on his face, and his t-shirt shredded a bit. "Doesn't pay to be a smart ass now, does it?" Axel asked, grinning at the Keyblade wielder. Back in the pit, the Morning Stars were still jumping up and down, trying to follow Quince who obviously hadn't bothered to finish them off.

"Tough time?" asked Arach with one eyebrow raised, fighting the urge to smile.

Glaring, Quince grumbled, "Watch it, spider boy."

But Arach refused to drop the subject. "Let's just look at it this way," began Arach, resting his Keyblade on his shoulder as they continued up the path, "I think Stefa likes _me_ better than she does _you_ now." Quince stared at him unblinkingly. He was beyond surprised that Arach would know about that since Stefa hadn't told Nalani yet.

The only reason he knew Stefa hadn't told Nalani was because he hadn't been viciously burned or had acid thrown in his face. At the same time, Arach wasn't stupid, and he was a guy. A _dark _guy. Maybe he could just pick up on it. Calmly, in one swift movement, Quince punched the unexpecting Arach in the jaw. With some satisfaction, he continued up the path with Axel slowly trailing at him. The shocked Arach was still standing still, rubbing the side of his face. As he kept his distance, Quince mumbled, "I told you to watch it."

**xxxxxx**

Sora easily took out a Luce sniffing around Merlin's neighborhood. He was fighting alongside Leon and Cloud who were trying to focus on both the Luces and Heartless that continued to appear together. The one positive for Sora was that he could still use his magic to knock the Heartless into submission, but hitting them with his sword was, as it had always been, about as effective as using electricity on something insulated in loads of rubber. **(A/n: I was thinking about Pikachu when I wrote that. xD)**

The vibrating of his sleek, plum Gameboy (that he was willing to bet Nalani had changed the colors to) caused his sword to disappear as he answered. "King Mickey?"

The King looked like he hadn't slept in days. "Sora, I need you and the... I mean, I need the others to go to other worlds to save what they can. They need to get to End of the World and try to restore what's been lost."

"Of course!" The screen clicked off, and he turned to find Leon and Cloud staring at him. "We have to get to End of the World as soon as possible." Slowly, they nodded.

"I guess we can hold down the fortress, but..." Leon trailed off as Roxas and entered the Borough, looking terrified. "What's wrong?" The Gunblade wielder asked almost immediately.

"Some guy with silver hair snatched Kairi!" announced Roxas. "Right after I sealed the keyhole, he appeared out of nowhere, and…-- He was heading this way." Sora's hands clenched into fists as they searched the rooftops. A shock of bright red hair was visible beneath the arm of a man wearing a black jacket splattered with crimson.

"The Marketplace! C'mon!" Sora shouted, leading the way out of the Borough.

**xxxxxx**

The Marketplace was completely empty of people aside from Yuna, Paine, and Tifa. Yuna pointed her staff in the air, casting a Thundara spell at the cloaked man, and missed by a mile. As he turned around, he grinned, bearing his sharp teeth at the girls. Kairi was struggling in his grip, trying to free herself.

"Let her go!" Sora's voice filled the area as he entered the Marketplace, directly followed by the other four. The man chuckled as Kairi called out Sora's name.

"What are you going to do, Sora?" He asked, smoothing his messy, short silver hair down. "You don't even have a Keyblade; I can do whatever I like to her." He added in a scarily seductive tone that caused Kairi to struggle even more. Sora ran at the man with his wooden sword in hand. **(A/n: Wow. I'd be shaking in my boots if Sora was running at **_**me **_**with a wooden sword! xD)**

"Let go of Kairi! And how do you know my name?" A barrier rose up between Sora and the man, knocking Sora onto the pavement.

"The name's Farkas, kid," The man replied, bearing his teeth when he smiled again. "And you're out of your league. If my master didn't want this girl so badly, I'd probably eat her up." By the tone of his voice, the others could tell he wasn't kidding.

Sora was beyond pissed now. "How _dare_ you even think about doing something like that to her! Kairi's not going _anywhere_!" He added, running at the barrier once more. Farkas' laugh sounded husky, like a dog's if it could laugh. Once again, Sora was thrown backwards. Behind him, the others seemed to be at a loss for what to do.

"Sora, don't! You're just going to keep hurting yourself!" shouted Kairi as Sora stood with his arms and legs badly cut up. Once more, he ran at the barrier, disregarding his wounds.

Tifa turned toward Roxas with an intrigued expression. "Where's Naminé?"

He whirled around, noticing for the first time that she wasn't right behind him.

**xxxxxx**

For Nalani and Riku, it felt like forever since they had last fought Cina (which it had been, more or less), while it felt like just yesterday for Stefa. Cina easily evaded all of their attacks, but he didn't seem very intent on fighting them. He didn't even send out his Heartless. Riku jumped in the air and slashed down at Cina, but he disappeared in a flash of black. Riku straightened up, dusting off the knees of his jeans as Cina reappeared behind him. The Keyblade was raised, aimed to kill.

"Riku!" Stefa ran at the silver-haired boy as fast as she could, knocking him to the ground, barely evading the attack herself. They slid across the purple ground with her laying on top of him, panting. Nalani ran in front of them and cast a quick Graviga spell before Cina got anymore ideas. "Riku, I'm sorry..." She heard Stefa began.

"Now's not a good time, Stefa," Nalani almost sang as Cina straightened up, groaning in pain from behind pushed to the ground by the gravity spell. Stefa rolled off of Riku, and he got up, lending her a hand as he did so.

"You're pathetic. You can't hope to beat us," growled Riku at Cina who merely smiled.

"Oh, can't I? I will damn you all to the darkness!" Darkness exploded in front of him and rushed toward the other three, easily overtaking them. **(A/n: I think Lexaeus did this in Re: CoM. I think that's where I got this. xD)** The darkness was too much; it was way too powerful for any of them. Even Riku could feel himself giving in, embracing the darkness...

A bright, white light cut straight through the darkness and knocked Cina a few feet away from them. Riku turned around to find none other than Naminé sliding down the edge of the cliff. When she approached them, she was frowning a little at Riku. "Riku, when I told you to embrace _both_ light _and_ darkness, I didn't mean for you to take them both and then choose one or the other." She chided him, causing the edges of his lips to twitch a little.

"Sorry," came the sheepish supply. Cina was gasping for air with a hand to his chest.

"Damn the light! I will return, that I promise you!" He sank into a portal as it appeared beneath his feet.

"Where's Roxas?" asked Stefa as Heart Seal disappeared.

"He headed after the guy who snatched Kairi," Naminé replied, biting her lip. "I saw you guys with him, and I thought you might need help..."

"We're glad for it," assured Nalani.. "Which way did they go?"

Naminé smiled. "The Marketplace."

**xxxxxx**

Tired of watching Sora hurt himself repeatedly, Yuna cast a Curaga spell on him and began to attack the barrier with a blast of firaga. Sora must have been thrown away from the barrier about ten times, but he wouldn't quit; he _couldn't_ quit.

His persistence seemed to pay off.

As he ran at the barrier again, it shocked him, yes, but he started to go _through_ it as a flash appeared in his right hand. Wielding Oathkeeper and panting something awful, Sora appeared before Farkas with a pleased expression. "You were saying earlier?" He asked as an extremely surprised Farkas dropped Kairi to the ground and allowed the barrier to fade.

"...How is that possible? The boss said, _he said_...!" Farkas stuttered, backing off a few paces from Sora.

"That you would utterly fail?" The voice of a female asked from the rooftop of the shop right next to the action. The girl tucked her icy blue hair behind her ears and smiled. "I think _I'll_ tell him."

"Who _are_ you?" demanded Sora as brandished Oathkeeper threateningly now that he had it in his hand. The girl smiled.

"The light to overcome the sick darkness in this tainted world." She replied simply with a smile.

"Hey!" Farkas shouted, obviously resenting the statement.

"There were _more_ Light wielders?" Sora asked dumbly.

The girl giggled. "Sure. Something like that. Enough about me, though. What about the worlds? In case you didn't realize it, there are a whole bunch of destroyed worlds sitting in the End of the World. Our goal will be realized at Kingdom Hearts!" She announced in an awfully crazy way for such a cute girl.

Farkas glared daggers at her. "You just gave away our master plan!" She disregarded him as she waved at Sora.

"See you soon, Sora." The girl called before disappearing into what looked like a portal of light. Still glaring, Farkas disappeared into a black portal. Sora and Kairi turned around to face the rest of the group, who appeared to be just as confused as they were.

"Does that mean that there are... even more light and dark wielders?" asked Tifa as she rubbed her head.

Kairi shook her head a little. "We don't even know what _weapons_ they have, but it's clear that they're responsible for whatever it is that's going on here."

* * *

**A/n: I think I only originally attempted to edit this half-way. I say that because half of it was new shit and the rest was old shit. Not that it's bad since I had to spend less time fixing the information. :D **


	4. IV: I Don't Forget

**Chapter IV:**

**I Don't Forget**

**A/n: Ugh. My memory does not hold onto details after a year. x.o I can't believe I made this story a year ago... Well, a year ago this August. Whatever. xD Thanks to the older reviews, I've been able to... kind of remember what happened originally. **

**This greatly differs from the original chapter, so I highly suggest reading it. ;D I made new types of Luce as well as a 'boss' Luce, if you will, for Land of Dragons. :3**

**I couldn't stop listening to this song while writing this chapter... making this chapter further different from the original. xD' **

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

_'Our time is running out._

_Cherry blossom spiral down crossover the memory._

_Flash back over and over again._

_Everybody seek and get one step closer little by little._

_Shared the tears taste of burden.'_

**-"Sandome no Sakura" by High and Mighty Color**

**

* * *

  
**

By the time Nalani, Riku, Stefa, and Naminé reached the Borough, the others were back from the Marketplace with, Riku noticed with relief, Kairi. Kairi _and _a Keyblade-wielding Sora. "What did we miss?" asked Nalani as she collapsed on the closest couch. Stefa collapsed on top of her.

Sora's proud smile wavered at the sight of the exhausted group. "What happened to you guys?"

"Oh, you know," began Riku as he sat down on another couch. "We met Cinahem; he almost sucked us into the darkness. Naminé rushed in to save us with light. The usual." Sora scowled at his best friend's off-handed manner.

"What we really want to know," said Naminé before Sora could complain, "is how you regained your ability to wield a Keyblade."

To no one's surprise, Sora sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "I'm not really sure. The last thing I was going to do was let Farkas get away with Kairi..."

"Hold on," interjected Stefa. "_Farkas_?" She, Nalani, and Arach were fighting back laughs.

Leon sent a silencing glance their way that succeeding in sobering them up. Nalani sat up, throwing Stefa onto the floor in the process. "Farkas seems to be working with some sort of darkness, but..." Roxas trailed off, at a loss of words.

"There was a girl with him; the way she spoke made it obvious that she's on the light side," finished Paine.

Cloud, who had been listening to the conversation, entered from the kitchen. "Yet she's working on the same side as Farkas. Whoever their leader is must be very... versatile." He smiled faintly at Stefa and waved in greeting as she stood up from her spot on the floor.

An impatient Quince demanded after a few minutes of silence passed, "What are we going to do now?" He was unsurprised to be faced with several glares.

"The King wanted us to lock up some worlds and go to End of the World," replied Sora, oblivious to the tension in the room. "We better split up. A new keyhole has probably appeared in various worlds since we're fighting _against _light now."

"Destiny Islands is a likely candidate," remarked Riku, "so I'll go over there."

"And I'll go with," offered Stefa with a sheepish smile.

Sora's leader persona took over immediately. "If the 'superior' of Farkas was interested in Kairi, then they'll probably want other Princesses of Heart, too. Nalani, you should go to Wonderland to check on Alice."

Nalani groaned in response. "Because Ceron had such a wonderful time when he went there. Alright, fine, but I'm taking Arach with me."

Put-off just a bit by the decision, Sora huffed and nodded. "Alright, fine. Now, as for the rest of us..."

**XxxxxX**

**-Destiny Islands-**

**(A/n: Yeah, I totally cut that off because I've no clue where the others go. x3)**

After flipping a coin that Arach happened to have on him, Riku and Stefa got to take _Excalibur _to Destiny Islands. Sora hadn't been very pleased about losing the coin flip... or Riku changing the name of the ship. Stefa took care of artillery while Riku expertly steered away from Heartless, Nobody, _and _Luce ships. "Why is it that I feel like we get a new type of enemy every time we start a new journey?" mumbled Riku as he swerved the ship in order to avoid a particularly large Heartless ship.

Other than the one comment, the ride passed in a long, awkward silence. Stefa was mentally singing phrases in french when Riku landed the Gummi Ship at the children's island at Destiny's Island.

Once they were walking on the beach, Riku broke the silence. "Why, Stefa?" She whirled around with a perplexed expression.

"What?"

"Why have I never been good enough for you?" His tone was hardly hurt just interested, maybe a little angry. "After all of this..."

Stefa had always found it challenging to own up to her actions. To this date, years later, that hadn't changed. She chewed on her lip until it felt raw and tasted irony. "I'm sorry, Riku. Really. The way I shut you down when you proposed, but... you have to understand. I've known Quince _forever_." She paused.

_**'And he's always chased tail,' **_recalled Reixka. Stefa didn't quite enjoy the intrusion of her thoughts particularly at the moment.

_'Hush,' _thought Stefa, mostly because she knew her Nobody was indeed correct. "I felt... an obligation; a loyalty to him, I guess. I always assumed we'd be together. I just didn't like fighting what I thought was destiny, I guess."

"Stefa," began Riku as he stepped forward and took her shoulders into his hands. "Destiny can always be changed, and I want you to know that, yes, I still love you. I've loved you all along," She fought back the urge to make any joyful noise, "but I won't do this again. If you leave me again after this, that's it."

The regulation was fair. If Riku had truly been waiting for her the whole time, then he was obviously the one to stick with. She allowed him to lead her not to the cavern as she had expected, but inside of the shack and onto the small isle in the water. Calling Way to Dawn to hand, Riku struck at a long tree and caught a star-shaped fruit in his open hand.

He cut it in half before turning toward her and offering her a piece. "Legend is that whoever you share a Paopu fruit with will have a destiny that is forever entwined with your own." Stefa took the half that he offered her and he added with a wry smile, "if you don't fight against our destiny, then the legend should turn out to be true."

As they both devoured their halves of the fruit, Stefa couldn't help but recall what Riku had just said about destiny. The fruit was tangy, but it scraped her throat on its way down.

In the meantime, Kaeli was watching them from the rooftop of the shack with Aidan standing beside her. She was smiling, whether out of amusement or awe, Aidan did not know. "How sweet," her voice seemed genuine as she said this. The next thing he knew, she was raising her arms and summoning hundreds of Luce. "What a shame." Her tone became darker, unlike the old Kaeli, and she glanced at him expectantly.

Cina was corruption; he was evil. He could turn the lightest person to the darkness, it seemed... Still, he wanted to become whole more than anything, so he followed her cue and snapped. Heartless joined the Luce and, in perfect unison, they began to destroy the world.

**XxxxxX**

**-Wonderland-**

Sora dropped off Nalani and Arach **(A/n: Ack, I called him Ceron x.x) **off in a part of Wonderland that Nalani had yet to see. They appeared to be in the large garden of a nearby house. In the center of the garden was a long table covered with various amounts of dishes and surrounded by quite a few chairs. A hare, man with a long hat, and drunk-looking mouse were seated at the table.

At Arach and Nalani's arrival, the hare jumped up. "Look, friends!" They exchanged quick looks.

"Uh, could you tell us how to get to the Bizarre--?" began Nalani although she was cut off by the man as the teapots began to dance.

"You must have a cup of tea," insisted the Mad Hatter.

Arach shook his head. "No. We're looking for this world's keyhole...--"

"Ah, yes, indeed! The tea, the tea! You _must _have a cup of tea!" insisted the March Hare as a pot appeared out of nowhere and began to pour tea into a small cup.

Nalani shook her head. "_No_. We want the fucking keyhole. _Key. Hole_. And I don't even like tea."

The March Hare and Mad Hatter shrieked with scandalized gasps. "You don't like... _tea_?!" demanded the hare. "How... how could you...?"

"It's okay, it's okay," assured the Mad Hatter. "We will still wish you two very merry unbirthdays."

"What the hell is an unbirthday?" asked Arach as his Keyblade flashed into his hand; Nalani immediately wished he hadn't said anything.

The Madd Hatter picked up a teapot and poured some steaming tea into his collar. The tea went through his sleeve and into a cup. "An unbirthday occurs three-hundred sixty-four times a year! It is every day that is not your birthday."

"...As wonderful as that is, can you just tell us where the keyhole is?" asked Nalani.

Instead, the March Hare and Mad Hatter broke into song. "A very merry unbirthday to you!"

"To me?" asked the March Hare with delight.

"To you!" sang the Mad Hatter before shifting his eyes to Nalani. "A Very Merry Unbirthday to you!"

"No, _not _to me. To you!" Nalani knocked the Mad Hatter upside the head. "Keyhole. _Now_."

Shaking, the March Hare gestured to the forest. "Y-you could g-go through the house, b-but you won't be able to g-get the keyhole."

Nalani turned away from the tea party and heaved a sigh. "I guess this means we'll be dealing with the chop-happy Queen. That's okay, though; anywhere's better than here."

**XxxxxX**

**-Land of Dragons-**

"Where do you think the keyhole for this world could possibly be?" asked Roxas as he, Sora, Kairi, and Naminé paced around the Bamboo Grove. Much to the blond's surprise, Kairi answered, "Well, doesn't the keyhole tend to be in the world's most important place?" she asked. The others nodded. "What's the most important place here?"

"The palace!" replied Sora cheerfully. "Great thinking, Kai." She smiled and a faint blush touched her cheeks as they exited the grove. The camp where Sora had met Mulan (who had gone by Ping at the time) and Captain Shang was, much to his delight, empty.

"No wars, then. For them, at least; we haven't gotten off quite so easily," murmured Roxas as they walked through the empty encampment. Once they reached the bridge leading out of the area, Luces and Heartless began to appear. "Well, doesn't that figure?" Oblivion flashed into his hand, Angelic Destiny appeared into Kairi's **(A/n: I found the name by re-reading older stories :3!)**, Chain of Memories into Naminé's, and Oathkeeper into Sora's.

As Sora took out a nearby Shadow, he smiled. "This is a good thing; we'll be able to get back into practice faster." At this, Roxas rolled his eyes; leave it to Sora to be optimistic.

**XxxxxX**

**-Wonderland-**

Few Heartless appeared in the Lotus Forest. For the most part, it seemed that the Luce owned the place. Nalani supposed it made a bit of sense; a Princess of Heart lived in the world, after all. As she and Arach walked through the forest, they easily killed the small fox Luces. Once they passed the tallest tree in the forest, a large white wolf slunk toward them. When she looked at Arach with a hopeful expression, he gazed back with confusion clearly etched onto his face.

The white wolf had what looked like an icy blue 'H' symbol, only not quite, marked on its forehead. "Hikari," mumbled Arach as his Keyblade appeared in his hand. "It must be a... Luce."

"I'm starting to think that Luces aren't really just light balled into a creature," remarked Nalani as she knocked back the wolf with her staff. "I know Holy, but that will hardly help us against a light creature."

Arach swatted at the Luce. The darkness that expelled from the teeth of his Keyblade burned into its fur. "Then, we just have to use darkness." As Nalani cast a thundaga spell, Arach expelled a jet of dark poison from his Keyblade. He had not watched the poison burn through a creature's skin for a while now. It brought back some interesting memories as he watched the wolf whine in pain."This is great," cheered Nalani as she fell the Luce with one final magic attack. "Now, moving on..." But as she they neared the end of the forest, a large group of Arctic Foxes and White Wolves appeared. **(A/n: i.e. I just named the Luce.) **"... Alrighty then."

**XxxxxX**

**-Land of Dragons-**

Sora and the others were also fortunate enough to meet a new type of Luce, a small white dragon. It would have resembled a Wyvern in appearance if it hadn't been much smaller and completely white. As the sunlight touched down on the bodies of the Luces, they noticed for the first time, they seemed to sparkle like glass.

Raising Oblivion to block the claws of one of the Dragon, Roxas growled, "This is going to be less easy than I expected."

"If we get to the palace soon, I'll be relieved," mumbled Naminé as one of the Dragons struck at her arm with its claws, knocking her to the ground. Sora looked round at the group; they were _already _exhausted.

He knew they had no other choice.

"Let's get out of here," he remarked, pulling Kairi along with him as they entered through the city's gate.

Once they closed the gate behind them (which took all four of them to accomplish), no more Luces appeared. Kairi sighed with exhilaration. "Finally!" At the same time, a woman with medium-length dark brown hair dressed in green armor ran across the bridge. "Sora!" called the woman with a large smile upon her face.

"Mulan!" replied Sora as they ran to meet her halfway. "Mulan, the city's completely empty. What's going on? This is Kairi, Naminé, and Roxas," he added, gesturing to each person as he introduced them.

Mulan inclined her head. "It's an honor to meet you all," she stated before turning her attention back to whatever was making her hands shake. "Sora, there's a large white dragon floating around here."

Roxas groaned. "A giant Luce?"

"Where did you last see it?" asked Sora as his eyes searched the sky for a giant white dragon. Mulan's unsheathing her sword was all the answer Sora needed. Keyblades flashed all around as a giant dragon began to swoop down toward them. The wind blowing from its giant wings knocked them off of their feet.

Once the dragon touched down, it growled loudly. "Arc-en-ciel," mumbled Naminé before running at it. The spikes running down the dragon's spine were large in length and width and they looked like crystals. Its webbed wings sparkled and appeared to be made up out of diamonds. As the sunlight passed over the eyes, they looked like they were made of topaz. **(A/n: Ow, you'd have to wear sunglasses while looking at this thing. Dx) **

The dragon's appearance made it look so very breakable, but Naminé knew better than to be fooled by appearances. She narrowly avoided the dragon's icy breath as she ran under it and climbed up its wings. When she tried to strike at the wings, nothing happened. "What?!"

"Legend says that the only way to wear down a diamond's hardness is by smearing it with fresh goat's blood," remarked Mulan as she joined Naminé, causing the latter girl to jump.

Naminé pursed her lips. "But... we don't have any of that." With a glance at Mulan, she added, "Or do we?"

"Mushu," called Mulan as she reached into her pocket and drew out a small dragon. The dragon was holding a large container of the stuff, making Naminé extremely suspicious.

"A dragon can never carry around too much goat's blood," remarked Mushu with a proud smile as he handed over the container to Naminé.

Chain of Memories disappeared as she took the container of blood. "Oh. You're a... dragon?" she asked sheepishly. Mushu's facial expression turned enraged.

"Of _course _I'm a dragon! What else could I be?!" demanded the dragon to which Naminé replied by holding her hands up in surrender. "Now, smear the blood over the wings."

Naminé glanced down at her dress and shrugged before taking off the lid and dipping her hand inside. She tried not to become completely sickened as her eyes scanned the area for the others. Arc-en-ciel **(A/n: Dragon's name) **had summoned about thirty other lesser Luces in order to distract the others. She rubbed her hand over the dragon's wing whilst Mulan and Mushu attacked the head. Once she was satisfied the right amount of area of the wing was covered, she called upon Chain of Memories.

The hilt became instantly smeared with goat blood, but Naminé tried not to mind as she replaced the lid of the container. Arc-en-ciel's wings began to flap furiously as it began to take off into the sky. The next thing Naminé knew, she was flying off of the wing and hurdling towards the ground.

Mulan's hand reached out and pulled her onto the back. "Thanks," breathed Naminé as she and the warrior hugged the crystal spikes on the dragon's spine.

"No problem," replied Mulan before glancing around. "Mushu?!"

"Right here!" shouted the dragon. He was hanging onto Naminé's sandal for dear life. As they were holding on, the crystals began to get colder and colder until they emitted icy air, freezing up Naminé's arms and chilling Mulan to the bone. Both girls released the spikes and went flying backwards as the dragon continued to fly. Naminé refused to give up.

She quickly re-grabbed a spike, moving her way up the dragon until she could reach Arc-en-ciel's bloodied wing. With her free, Keyblade-wielding arm, she struck at the wings by stabbing downward. A quick, backward glance showed her that Mulan was hanging onto the dragon's tail and Mushu was still attached to her sandal.

There was an audible sound of glass breaking, and the dragon hurled towards the ground. Mulan quickly climbed back to the middle of Arc-en-ciel as it collapsed, sending out a shock wave from the force. Naminé and Mulan were paralyzed for a few seconds during which time Naminé, who had hugged the container to her chest with her arm as she held onto the spike, ordered Mushu, "smear blood on the other wing!"

The small dragon quickly released her shoe, opened the container, and dumped it over the healthy wing. He quickly began to rub the blood over the wing, obscuring the glint of it. Kairi, who had ducked past the other Luces to find Naminé, approached them while Arc-en-ciel remained dazed. "What are you...?"

"You need goat's blood in order to break down the defense of a diamond," remarked Naminé before Kairi could finish her thought. "Help us break it."

Relieved that she didn't have to deal with the endless amount of lesser Luces, Kairi began to stab her Keyblade downward at the wing while Naminé slashed it, Mulan stabbed it, and Mushu breathed fire on it. Their combined attacks succeeded in shattering the wing.

Pleased that they had defeated the giant Luce, none of them bothered to get up immediately. Arc-en-ciel abruptly stood up and flung them into the river nearby. Then, it stood on all fours and began to walk. "_There's _a shocker," groaned a shivering Kairi as she pulled herself out of the water.

The lesser Luces immediately disappeared as Arc-en-ciel bounded for Sora and Roxas. "I would cheer if we didn't have to deal with _this_," growled Roxas as he called upon his own Oathkeeper. His Oathkeeper, Sora noticed for the first time, had Naminé's yellow charm acting as the keychain. Roxas jumped at the dragon's face as it approached them and slashed the hell out of it.

The topaz eyes, originally starting as a pale yellow, was now red and greatly resembled blood. Roxas stabbed the Keyblades in one of the eyes in an attempt to blind the dragon. Sora noticed the spikes on Arc-en-ciel's back turning frosty and cold like ice, and the dragon began to open its mouth... "Roxas, watch out!" he warned, a second too late, as the Luce breathed ice on Roxas, freezing him into a statue. "Shit."

As he paused near Roxas, the dragon lowered its head. Now was as good a time as any. "Firaga!" cried Sora as the fire jutted out around him, thawing Roxas and burning the dragon's crystalline face. The dragon roared and stumbled back. Kairi, Naminé, and Mulan dove apart in order to prevent getting squashed. "I'll go for the eyes; you three get the spikes."

"Where's Roxas?!" asked Naminé as she and the other two joined Sora. He gestured backwards to the numb-looking Roxas.

Before Naminé could say more, he added, "I just thawed him out; he'll be fine, don't worry." The dragon collapsed into a heap and the group quickly surged forward to take advantage of the lowered defense. "Use fire spells."

Mushu quickly appeared on Arc-en-ciel's back first and began to breathe a straight line of fire at the spikes. At the same time, Mulan assisted Sora in, at the very least, distracting the dragon while Naminé and Kairi cast firaga spells on it. Once their magic depleted, Arc-en-ciel collapsed and disappeared in a flurry of light. "Light is... surprisingly strong," mumbled Roxas as he approached the rejoiced group.

Naminé quickly jumped up and hugged him around the neck. "I'm so glad you're alright," she said with a smile. As she drew away, she noticed that her hands were still bloody (thus getting the back of his neck bloody) and she'd wiped some of it also on his clothes. "Sorry."

"I think it's just proof of your bravery," remarked Roxas with a shrug before kissing her lips. When they broke apart, Naminé was blushing as the others pretending to look on. "Now, about that keyhole."

**XxxxxX**

In the Queen's 'Court', Nalani was hit by a rush of nostalgia. She closed her eyes as they entered the area with many cuts and bruises from their Luce encounters.

_As a card raise an axe to the back of the little blond Princess's neck, Nalani raised the Staff of EaKaze and shot a firaga spell at the card. It burned to a crisp and Ceron turned toward her with the largest smile she'd ever seen him wear._

_Stefa then jumped on her back and the two of them hurdled to the ground. "Who's the fat woman?" asked Stefa as she got comfortable on Nalani's back. Nalani quickly rose and knocked Stefa off. _

_"Stop messing around!" a black diamond card ordered. "You are under arrest for murdering a soldier," he announced to Nalani, "and you are under arrest for making jokes about her highness, the Queen of Hearts," he added to Stefa. Both girls merely grinned._

"It's been... forever," whispered Nalani. Arach cast her a sideways glance just as a large woman sitting at a judge's bench banged her heart-shaped gavel.

"YOU! I REMEMBER YOU!" roared the Queen of Hearts angrily. "_You _assisted in the murder of my guards along with that boy. Then that girl called me fat..." The memory seemed harsh to her, as she banged her gavel again. "That's it! Off with their heads!"

Nalani rolled her eyes as a large group of cards approached them. She and Arach casted fire spells like there was no tomorrow as they walked through the Courtroom and exited it without paying attention to the Queen's words. "Alrighty, if I remember correctly, the keyhole was..."

_"Stefa! Seal Wonderland's keyhole!" Sora ordered from the other end of the room._

_"What, Keyhole? Where is it?" the blond yelled back as she wildly searched for the keyhole as if it would jump out at her._

_"It's the door's keyhole," was Sora's simple (and only) response as he turned his attention back to the many Heartless in the room._

_Frowning, Stefa replied, "But I just asked..." She groaned and little Alice began to pull her towards a pink door with a literal face._

_"This door's keyhole," remarked the princess._

"Right here!" called Nalani as she approached the slumbering door. "We're sealing this world against light, right? So we'd have to use..."

"Darkness," finished Arach as he raised his Keyblade at the door. "Absolutely." The doorknob, however, didn't open its mouth.

Frowning, Nalani tackled the door with the expertise of a football player. **(A/n: This is the second time I've compared her to one of those. Dx;) **The doorknob's eyes flew open as he looked around worriedly. "You! What are you ramming me for, eh?"

As he spoke, Arach could make out the perfect outline of a keyhole... A black light shot out from the tip of his Keyblade and sealed the world instantly. "Now, to await the return of Sora and the others..."

**XxxxxX**

A good ten minutes later, Sora and the others had arrived to pick up Nalani and Arach and were well on their way to Destiny's Island. As they sailed through space, patiently awaiting the appearance of the familiar islands, Sora's expectant smile steadily faded and was replaced by a frown. "Why... can't I find it? I'm going the right way, right? Kairi, can you check the coordinates?"

Kairi rose from her seat by Nalani and Naminé in the back and began to punch in numbers and letters on the keyboard of a nearby computer. She glanced at the coordinates the computer gave her, then the ones where they were currently at; they were the same. "Sora, you're right. We're here," she replied softly.

"But Destiny Islands is not," finished Nalani, who had risen to get a look at the situation.

* * *

**A/n: I think I might like this chapter better than the original. Totally different stuff happened to Riku and Stefa, more fun things happened to Sora&co, and Arach and Nalani had some fun, too. I liked this. :D I will steadily continue to update this. Please review!**


	5. V: The Midnight Air Will Do You Well

**Chapter V:**

The Midnight Air Will Do You Well

**A/n: I am both highly excited and highly disappointed for future chapters. Why, you may ask? After having a staring contest with older reviews, I started to remember shit! I know, I was pretty pumped, too. I started to freak out. Still, there are things I can't remember and it makes me mad. Dx The only truly new addition to this chapter, I think, is the second scene from the end.  
**

**Yeah, I missed up in the last chapter, by the way. Originally, I guess, Stefa and Riku went with Sora in the ship... and just got dropped off. Oh well. :D**

**Disclaimer - I dun own Kingdom Hearts. Or _Hercules_. Just the OCs. Yeah. They're mine. :D  
**

_'Rescue me from everything._

_I just wanna live;_

_I wish I could breathe._

_Rescue me from everything._

_I just wanna live;_

_I just wanna breathe .'_

**-"Rescue Me" by Hawthorne Heights**

**

* * *

  
**

"No. No. No," whispered Naminé as a spare Gummi Cid had, _Highwind,_ floated up in down in space in front of the spot where Destiny Islands should have been.

Kairi's nails were biting into Sora's arm. "Mom, Dad… Selphie, Tidus, Riku, Stefa…! They were too late…"

Sighing heavily, Sora ran his free hand through his air as he tried to force optimism. "I'm sure they're all fine. This has happened so many times before that they were prepared, I'm sure…"

"Who would've thought that light would become our enemy," came Roxas' bitter reply. "But we can't just sit here, Sora; it won't help us. Let's go back to the Radiant Garden." Reluctantly Sora turned the ship away from the empty space and sped off toward the other world.

**XxxxxX**

**-Radiant Garden-**

The _Highwind _crew disappointedly landed in the Radiant Garden and trudged back to Merlin's House. The house, which had been filled with a relative amount of life, seemed to die as they entered. "What happened?" Tifa asked earnestly at their crestfallen expressions.

At least, _most _of their faces were downcast. Arach, on the other hand, appeared relatively indifferent. Nalani may have knocked him upside the head had she thought it would help.

Quince and Merlin even managed to drag their attention away from whatever it was they were doing when they realized something was wrong. "Well?" prodded Merlin. "Don't leave us in the dark, lads! ... And ladies," added the wizard as he walked away from a chair in the corner.

Sitting on the chair was a surprisingly large, grungy-looking doll with a shock of red hair wearing overalls over a yellow and orange striped shirt. Kairi opened her mouth to say something about the doll when he literally looked at her and smiled. She settled for a whimper and turned away.

"Destiny Islands got destroyed," announced Roxas with a glance at Kairi. He assumed her frightened expression was because of what had occurred to her home.

"What? But they had _time_," insisted Cid from his spot at the computer. "There weren't no Luces before they arrived."

Sora frowned somewhat. "I guess they got preoccupied," he mumbled. Arach smirked.

"Yeah, 'preoccupied'," remarked the spider-boy with air quotes. EaKaze appeared and Arach was hit in the head by it.

As he rubbed his head, Nalani remarked sweetly, "I love you, sweetheart, but if you make fun of my, once again, MIA friend again, I may have to kill you."

Arach snorted. "We saw how well _that _worked before, didn't we?"

Nalani's cheeks burned as Kairi, Sora, Roxas, Quince, and Naminé shot her puzzled glances. Axel, on the other hand, smirked. Tifa glanced around the room and closed her eyes. "I'm going to have to be the one to ask, huh? Alright." She heaved a sigh. "Where are Riku and Stefa?"

**XxxxxX**

**-The Underworld-**

Looking as bored as always, a blue-skinned deity dressed in black robes tapped his fingers against the arm of his tower in a broken beat. He gazed down at the two figures chained to the arena of the Underdome and yawned. "Look a little bit alive down there, won't you?" he snapped at the two figures.

One of them, a woman with a black ninja band tied around her forehead. She shook her long, soft black bangs out of her face. "We're not here for your entertainment."

"Yeah," the other one, a boy with poofy black hair replied, "We're not dancing monkeys."

The Lord of the Dead raise an eyebrow. "You coulda fooled me."

The boy scowled. "If I could use my sword..."

Hades smiled with satisfaction. "But you _can't_, can you?" He tore his cat-yellow eyes away from them in order to glance at the entrance. "Now, so long as _she _doesn't worm her way out, we should be fine..."

**XxxxxX**

**-The Radiant Garden-**

"Leave it to Stefa and Riku not to get sucked into the darkness, but the light," mumbled Leon as he pushed a gloved hand through his thick brown hair.

Roxas groaned, "I wonder where they could possibly be? The possibilities seem endless."

"Stefa and Riku can... take care of themselves," decided Cloud from where he was leaning against the wall of the kitchen. "In the meantime, the rest of you need to go protect other worlds from the light. I'm sure you'll meet up with them along the way."

Nalani nodded. "After all, when the worlds are falling apart, who you gonna call?"

"Keyblade wielders!" cheered Roxas, Kairi, Sora, and Naminé.

**XxxxxX**

**-Olympus Coliseum-**

A brunette with blonde highlights paced near the score boards outside of the Coliseum. She glanced over at the two other pacing figures at the other end of the area. When the silverette noticed her stare, she narrowed her brown eyes into a glare. The brunette immediately made her best attempt to back herself up. "Don't glare at me like a bitch," she snapped as the silverette closed the distance between them.

Silverette's companion, a tall seventeen year old with medium-length black and red highlighted hair rolled his eyes and strutted behind her. The brunette found herself wondering whether or not she should fear the boy. "That's right; you're an _ass-kisser_, aren't you?" growled Silverette.

Brunette girl smiled unpleasantly. "I follow the strongest side."

The boy snorted. "No, you want revenge; don't lie," he added when she began to open her mouth. "You've always been a revenge-driven bitch."

"It's Arach's fault," was all the girl defended herself with as she stuck up her chin defiantly. Silverette and her friend laughed.

"When in doubt, blame Arach. How old are you?" demanded Silverette with an incredulous expression. "The last thing we want to do is be here with you."

"Especially when we can be with _him_," drooled the boy. Both girls shook their heads.

"He. Is. _Straight_, darling," Silverette informed her brother. "Just back off."

Big Brother raised an eyebrow. "Why should I? She's with Arach now, anyway." There was no bitterness in his tone.

Brunette lashed out, "Stop _talking _about Arach!" She shrieked. Again, Silverette and Big Brother laughed.

"You brought him up first, babe," pointed out Silverette with the bitchiest smile that she could muster.

Brunette scowled in response. "That's fine; I'm through babysitting you. Now you can go back to dancing for Hades. Someone should be watching over her anyway. If she gets loose, then all hell _will _break loose with her."

**XxxxxX**

Stefa was completely astonished to awaken beneath a pier with some rays of sun filtering through the boardwalk and shining in her eyes. She slowly sat up and rubbed the back of her head. She was on a beach, true enough, but it certainly was not Destiny's Island. At least, it wasn't a part of Destiny's Island that _she _recognized. Immediately, she was concerned that she was lost.

The sound of a soft giggle startled her into a sitting position. She glanced beside her to find Reixka drawing designs in the wet sand with Sakura Dawning. "Reixka, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for _you _to wake up," groaned the Nobody in response although she was still smiling. "Do you know how many people I've had to convince that you are not, in fact, drunk but just sleeping somewhere shady? Wanna guess how many people believed me?"

Her response was the shake of her head. "No, no; I'm good. Where are we?"

Reixka's eyebrows knitted together as she frowned. "Uh. Jewel's Grove. This is _the _beach. You know, the Sea of Tranquility." Slowly, Stefa nodded her aching head.

"Right. The place that you appeared at after you were born... Where we had our final battle against one another," she added with a reminiscent smile. "Why would we appear here of all places?"

"Well, aside from the fact that it's our favorite place to be," began Reixka, "I'm guessing that it's because your family's down here. Isn't it summer?"

Stefa snapped. Or tried to since she couldn't really snap. "That makes perfect sense!" She glanced around. "So... where's Riku?"

The Nobody's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "I haven't seen him."

* * *

**A/n: Wow. I definitely could not remember that last part until a good five minutes ago after staring down another review. xD I love how my memory is working! I remember wanting to write the last scene while I was in South Carolina last summer... Good times. :3 This is still as short as... sin. This shouldn't even be allowed on fanfiction and yet it is. Dx I'll come and add details to this later.**

**Oh, right. I'll reinstate the two old questions. One: Who do you think the doll is at Merlin's house? x3 I refused to look up a picture to make sure I'm right, though I'm pretty sure I am since it's kinda burned into my mind since I was a kid. Dx Annnd, this is too easy, but who do you think all the unnamed 'prisoners' in the Underworld/Coliseum are? Just wanted to make sure you guys are thinking! x3 Please review.  
**


	6. VI: Never Going Down

**Chapter VI:**

Never Going Down

**A/n: I've decided the human brain is an amazing thing. Yeah. xD I liked the original song that I used for this chapter, but... the song that I really wanted to post the lyrics to is more fun. However, I decided "No. 5" by Hollywood Undead is probably too inappropriate for a T-rated story, so... xD'**

**And, the answer to the two questions from the end of last chapter are... 1) Yes, it's Chucky! My childhood monster. xD; 2) Ceron and Yuffie es correct. At least, for the two in the arena. :333  
**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts or _Hercules_.  
**

_'Holding your head up_

_Is hard when you just want_

_To stay on the ground,_

_To stay on the ground.'_

**-"Stay on the Ground" by Armor for Sleep**

**

* * *

  
**

Before departing the Radiant Garden for Olympus Coliseum, Kairi decided to voice her concern about the doll to the only person she knew wouldn't look at her funny, Naminé. "Naminé," the redhead murmured as they passed the chair with the doll. It stared at her as they passed it. She glanced back at her other with a concerned expression. "Is that doll watching us?"

It wasn't like Naminé, but she accidentally giggled at Kairi's concern. "Oh, Kairi... Of course no--" She broke off when she noticed the eyes moving in her peripheral vision. "...Oh."

Nalani approached them. "That's Chucky, guys. Why Merlin has a possessed, serial killing doll I don't know. Let's go before we're his next targets." The other two girls easily agreed and followed the mage out of the house. **(A/n: That was just... more comic relief than anything else. xD) **

**XxxxxX**

**-Olympus Coliseum-**

When they landed just outside of the Coliseum, they could find no one pacing; the area was deathly quiet. Sora exchanged a quick, communicative glance with the others that told them to stay on guard. Keyblades and, in Nalani's case, a staff appeared as the group proceeded to the lobby.

Inside the lobby, sitting on a small block was a red billy-goat like man, Phil. Of course they all remembered Phil. "Phil!" called Sora as they entered the lobby.

The goatman sprung up when he saw them. "Sora! Great timing!" He seemed uncharacteristically concerned. The nervousness that had been building up in all of their stomachs morphed to a sickly fear.

"What's going on, Phil?" asked Roxas hesitantly.

Phil immediately responded, "Hercules is fighting Hades' new... recruits... in the Underdome. One of them said that she was looking for you," he added in afterthought. "Anyway, you've gotta help him. The group of them looked strong, but Herc won't fight them because he, I guess, recognizes them."

"Underdome," repeated Naminé as she pushed past the fear growing inside of her. If Hercules recognized the people, then...

"Let's hurry down there," suggested Quince as he, Nalani, and Arach led the way out of the Coliseum.

**XxxxxX**

**-Jewel's Grove: Sea of Tranquility-**

As Reixka and Stefa wandered the beach in their too-warm clothes, Stefa punched Nalani's number in her compact. Her heart skipped a beat when the familiar face of her best friend appeared. As per the usual, seeing Nalani calmed Stefa down tenfold. "Stefa, you're alright!" grinned Nalani. Behind her was the all-too-familiar dark surroundings of the Underworld.

Stefa heaved a relieved sigh and nodded. At least Nalani's mission in Wonderland had gone well. "What's going on in the Underworld?" asked Stefa as she noticed the concern behind Nalani's relieved features.

The mage chewed on her lip. "Hades has Hercules fighting some 'familiar' people in the Underworld, Phil told us. He doesn't think Hercules will probably fight because he knows them, but... I'm just worried about who it could be."

Despite the fact that she was burning, Stefa felt a chill pass over her body at the thought. She very badly wanted to say that maybe it was a familiar enemy, like an Organization member, but then Herc would have no problem fighting. "If they're our friends and they're fighting Hercules... I highly doubt they're working for him by their own will; don't worry, Nala. Things will turn out."

"What about you? Where are you?" asked Nalani as Kairi, Naminé, and Sora leaned over her shoulder to get a better look.

"Jewel's Grove, I guess. We didn't lock Destiny Islands in enough time, I'm so sorry," she added at the addition of the others. "While we were on the beach, hundreds of Luces and Heartless appeared. There were too many for us to do anything..."

Sora waved her off. "It's fine, but... where's Riku?"

Stefa very badly wanted to curse. "I was hoping you would say that he's with you." Reixka elbowed her in the arm and she glanced up in time to notice a woman with reddish hair waving her down. A nine-year-old with longish dirty blond hair was jumping up and down with a bucket and pail in hand. "I've... gotta go. Be careful!" she added before clicking off the screen.

She had not another moment to think as little Kath tackled her to the ground. "Hi, Kath."

Aunt Wilma was smiling as she, Jacki, and Jake approached the three of them. Reixka pounded fists with Jake in greeting while Stefa lightly pushed Kath off of her and stood up. "It's been a while, hi," greeted Stefa although she knew it was a weak thing to say.

Jacki looked like she might have smacked her younger cousin, but she held onto some self-restraint. Without warning, Jacki and Jake pulled her into the tightest hug possible. "God, you don't look like you've aged at _all_," remarked Jacki bitterly. "I want to see that Naminé and have her put me in a pod for a year!"

"Well, uh, Jacki... You still age, it's just that you won't get wrinkles or worry lines because you're sleeping," Stefa tried to explain.

Her older cousin waved her off. "Whatever. It's still a good option."

"Are you going to stick around for long?" asked Aunt Wilma. She did not bother hiding her excitement which made Stefa feel all the more worse when she shook her head.

"No, I have to get back to the others. They need my help. Besides, I still have an MIA boy--... I mean, friend," she amended. Before her family members got the opportunity to say more, there were collective screams emitting from the water. Stefa and Reixka turned their attention to the beach and found lifeguards ushering people out of the ocean as soon as possible.

A particularly large sea creature was sitting extremely close to the shore. "Isn't that a little bit close for a giant squid?" asked Reixka with her eyebrows raised.

Stefa nodded as her eyes scanned the creature's body. "But I don't think it's a real squid; it's a Heartless!" She heard Jake quietly curse behind her, but she ignored it. Reixka's pale eyes met Stefa's. Both of them were burning with determination. "Together we stand, divided we fall, no?"

Reixka rolled her eyes as she smiled faintly before disappearing into Stefa's body. "I'm sorry, but I promise I'll be back soon!" called Stefa, delivering swift kisses to her family members before running down the beach. She'd used the line so often that she was starting to assume it would be a permanent part of who she was.

**XxxxxX**

**-Underworld-**

The only boat used to cross the River Styx was docked at the rocky shore with Pain and Panic standing nearby. Sora already knew that the imps had been waiting for them. Across the river, the Underdome's lights blazed. "The Gods really need to do something about making sure Hades can't use that thing anymore," muttered the Keyblade master as the group approached Pain and Panic.

"Finally!" growled the pink imp, Pain, as they came into sight. "We've been waiting for you for _so _long."

Nalani summoned the Staff of EaKaze and knocked on Pain's head. Both imps recalled the previous visit from her and Ceron when Ceron had kicked them across the ground. That had been a fun visit, she recalled fondly. "Not you!" gasped the green, skinny imp, Panic at the sight of Nalani. "W-we'll take you t-to the others, we p-promise! Lord H-Hades has been s-so excited to s-see you a-all."

Quince narrowed his eyes. "I bet. Let's get to it, shall we?" Another look of recognition passed over Pain and Panic's features.

"_I _remember you! You're the one who threatened Lord Hades to revive the Organization for that Maleficent witch!" shouted Pain. Again, Nalani hit the imp over the head with her staff.

She gazed at Quince with her eyebrows raised. "Wow. You weren't just sort of bad; you were _really _bad. Still are," she remarked with a pronounced smirk. Quince opened his mouth and closed it. The last thing he was expecting was for Nalani to be kind to him.

After all he'd done to her and Stefa, he hardly deserved it. "We only have one boat, so I guess we'll have to make a few trips," remarked Pain before jumping in the boat. "Alright, come on already!"

**XxxxxX**

**-Unknown world-**

Riku was vaguely surprised to see that he was still in Destiny's Island when he came to. The only thing he could remember was sharing a Paopu fruit with Stefa on the island before a bunch of Luces and Heartless appeared.

Wait. Destiny Islands had been _destroyed_.

He quickly pushed himself up and realized he couldn't move. Darkness was binding his wrists and ankles. Likewise, he was sitting on the middle of the beach, but the water was lapping up the sand.

A shadow fell before him. The shadow was reminiscent of Quince's, but Riku knew better.

"Cinahem."

**XxxxxX**

**-Underworld-**

When at last everyone had crossed the River Styx, they entered the Underdome behind the victorious-looking Pain and Panic.

_'I bet this is the first time they've ever done anything right for Hades,' _thought Nalani with a grin as they entered the familiar Underdome. Hercules was standing in the center of the arena flushed red and breathing heavily.

A giant Shuriken missed him by and inch as a longsword was pressed to his own sword. A _longsword_.

Nalani momentarily forgot how to breathe.

The longsword's wielder jumped away from Hercules and stared at her hard in the face as Arach put a hand on her shoulder to see if she was alright. Arach was speaking to her, but she couldn't hear him.

She couldn't hear him because the boy that he had murdered, her now ex-fiancé, had the kind of disgusted disbelief that would suffocate a person.

"Ceron!" cried Nalani, unable to stop her legs as they sprung over the gap in the floor and ran toward the all-too-familiar face.

The face that had saved her from the darkness, and the face that had been lost to the darkness. Her savior.

As Nalani ran at him, Ceron horizontally sliced at her. Caught by major surprise, Nalani's eyes widened as the sword sliced into her left arm and knocked her to the ground.

Now someone else was shouting the longsword wielder's name; it was Quince, the mage noted dully. Quince was dumb; he'd cheated on Stefa. He always chased tail.

She was worse, she realized; she was dating the man that had murdered her fiancé. "Ceron..."

Maybe Memories deflected Yuffie's Shuriken from ripping her to pieces, not that she would have minded; it would have perfectly matched the way that she felt. "Nalani, how _could _you?!" snarled Ceron.

Arach shouted her name, but it was cut short as he was forced to defend himself against Yuffie. "Ceron, it's not..." Quince was trying to defend her, but even he knew there was no way to defend himself.

"And you!" growled Ceron viciously as he made a stabbing motion that hit home in Quince's bicep. "You _let _her do this?"

"Ooh, _someone's_ feisty," another male remarked as a Keyblade knocked Ceron's longsword out of his hand. "I can't let the two of you kill each other; that's no fun for me."

Shaking her head, another girl came into view. She tapped her cloudy Keyblade against her shoulder and heaved a sigh. "Laurence, they're both _straight_," she insisted.

Slowly, Nalani picked herself back up if only to get a better look at the new arrivals. Of course, the arrivals weren't very _new_. If Nalani's brain could push past the simple fact that Ceron was alive once more, then she would have been at least remotely concerned that Holly would kill her ten times over for the death she'd suffered at Nalani and Stefa's hands. Instead, the silverette glanced at her and nodded. "Nalani, you look more terrible than the last time I saw you and _that's _saying something."

* * *

**A/n: Again not as awesome as it was originally, but it works better than nothing. :D Now the angst level is only going to go up from here! Ceron's back and he's, understandably... upset. Maybe that's too light of a word. Ha. Please review.**


	7. VII: All I Need is the Air I Breathe

**Chapter VII:**

All I Need is the Air I Breathe

**A/n: Things from this point on are... sketchy, at best. xD I swear to God that I will come back and add details/new stuff maybe to this later. For now, I'm settling for the quick and dirty details. **

_'Whenever the end is_

_Do you think you can see it?_

_Well, until you get there_

_Go on, go ahead and scream it_

_Just say it.'_

**-"Say (All I Need) by OneRepublic**

**

* * *

  
**

**-Jewel's Grove-**

"I'm sorry, Miss, but we can't let you in the water. You see, there's a giant _squid _right _there_," one of the lifeguards, a tan and muscular blond informed her as if he was speaking to a child.

Stefa nodded in response. _'Just smile and nod. Smile and nod.' _"I'm sorry, sir, but you do realize that's not your average squid, correct?"

Another one of the lifeguards, a redheaded woman scowled, "Maybe." Reixka was cracking up in the back of Stefa's mind, making it hard for her to keep a straight face.

Again, she nodded. "That's a good step forward. Now, in case you've forgotten, Heartless have before destroyed this world. Quite a few times, actually. Anyway, your standing here will definitely not stop it from coming out to his beach and stealing the hearts of everyone here."

A third lifeguard, a man with brunet hair, growled, "And who are you to be telling _us _this?"

Heart Seal flashed into Stefa's hand, resulting in gasps from the lifeguards. "Can I go now?" The lifeguards nodded earnestly and parted the way for her to take care of the squid Heartless. "In the meantime, you should probably clear this beach!" she called over her shoulder. Feeling the eyes of bystanders on her back was making her relatively nervous.

**XxxxxX**

**-Unknown world-**

Cinahem chuckled. "Riku, Riku, Riku. I have watched you for a very, very long time and I must admit that I'm disappointed."

Riku's eyes narrowed. "Are you? I'm extremely apologetic that I can't please a madman, believe me." Another laugh from Cinahem.

"Talk big all that you'd like, but you know that I speak the truth. Soon, very soon, my dreams will be realized..." He trailed off as he walked closer to the edge of the sand and began to mutter to himself.

"Where am I?" demanded Riku. "This is Destiny Islands, but it looks... different."

"Very clever of you to notice; we are in the Radiant Cemetery." At the silver-haired boy's confusion, he added, "It is like End of the World except that this is where worlds destroyed by light are sent rather than ones destroyed by darkness."

A small, victorious smile adorned Riku's lips. "That means that this world works the same as the End of the World. All someone has to do is clear the... Luces in each fragment of each destroyed world, and it will be destroyed."

When Cinahem turned around, he was cackling madly. "Sure, it _would _work that way... under normal circumstances. This is not a normal circumstance." Again, he turned around.

Before Riku had the chance to ask what the hell Cinahem was asking about, he felt someone touch his wrists. "Don't say anything," the familiar and light voice of a woman ordered him. Light emitted from her hands and broke the bonds on his wrists and ankles.

Cinahem whirled around and his eyes slit into a glare. "Aerith Gainsborough! I clearly remember instructing Hades to--!" Riku quickly jumped to his feet once Aerith freed him.

"Too little, too late," remarked Aerith with a faint smile before she called upon a pearly white portal of light and pulled Riku in after herself.

**XxxxxX**

**-Underworld-**

"As hilarious as this is, I want to know what you two are doing working against me?" demanded Hades of Laurence and Holly as the god materialized before them, Quince, and Ceron.

Holly snorted. "You don't hold our free wills like you do theirs." Instantly, Hades seized her around the throat.

Picking up on the dissent, Quince said, "Say again?" Laurence knocked back the Lord of the Dead and glanced back at them.

"Hades is holding the ninja and Ceron's free wills captive. Why else would sweet little Ceron be attacking his ex-fiancé?" remarked Laurence as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'd really get on finding those free wills, if I were you."

Quince rounded on the others. "We have to go find Yuffie and Ceron's free wills!" he called. Sora nodded and pulled Kairi, Naminé, and Roxas after him. In the meantime, Hades' blue fire turned to orange as he became enraged.

"That's _it_! You have sealed their fates. Pain, Panic!" At the God's snarl, the two imps materialized before him.

Panic, fiddling with his tail, mumbled, "Y-yes s-s-sir?"

"Pull the dark wielder away from the Locke and tell her to take Olympus Coliseum!" ordered Hades.

Hercules, who'd been defending himself against Yuffie, blanched. "W-what? You promised that no harm would come to them!"

Hades sneered, "Sure, blunder boy, but only if you fought against my prisoners. You've refused to do that, so I think it's about time that you get what's coming for you." The orange gave way to blue, and the God's eyes widened as did his smile as he came upon an idea. "There's also one more thing I would like to do..." Without another word Pain, Panic, and Hades disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"We'd better go stop whatever's going to start at the Coliseum," decided Quince as he dodged a blow from Ceron. "Let's go," he added to Nalani as she hesitated.

"You aren't... really angry with me?" she mumbled to Ceron. Arach, who had been watching her, tore his eyes away and exited the Coliseum.

Ceron shook his head. "No, not really, but... I can't stop. I'm sorry!" He added before trying a vertical slice on her shoulder. Quince quickly yanked Nalani away before further harm could come to her.

"Even if you hate me, Nalani, I can't let anyone kill you. It's not right," grumbled the brunet as he pulled his childhood friend out of the Coliseum. Heaving sighs, Holly and Laurence followed them out.

Yuffie glanced at Ceron and offered a quick smile before they both collapsed on the arena's floor.

**XxxxxX**

**-Jewel's Grove-**

The Squid Heartless pulled away from the shore once it noticed Stefa and her Keyblade approaching. She refused to swim after it because she knew that was part of its plan. Instead, she noticed a wall jutting out in the middle of the water. A sign reading 'do not stand on this wall' was present, but, as this was an extenuating circumstance, Stefa assumed she would not be arrested. The wall seemed to jut out for miles into the ocean, which was just as well for Stefa; the squid was hovering right near it.

With Heart's Seal shouldered, Stefa ran down the slippery wall as water slapped against and over it. She slipped a few times but managed to prevent herself from falling in the water. Clouds were beginning to gather and darken overhead.

Stefa immediately raised Heart's Seal when she came to a five mile radius of the Heartless. "Thundaga!" A rain of lightning bolts crashed from the sky and zapped the Heartless. She became slightly hurt herself from the water's conductivity.

Thrashing and enraged, the Heartless reached out with one of its tentacles and seized Stefa's waist before pulling her towards it. She found herself dearly wishing that her family -- particularly Kath -- was not watching. "Thundaga!" cried Stefa again as she raised Heart's Seal. The lightning bolts struck herself and the squid relatively badly, and she was dropped into the water.

**XxxxxX**

**-Olympus Coliseum-**

Hercules, Arach, Elie, Holly, Laurence, Quince, and Nalani were able to rush back to the Coliseum only with the help of Laurence calling a dark portal. Everything appeared to be quiet, and the lobby was empty but not very silent; screams were emitting from the arena.

They pushed through the doorway and found none other than Phil trying (and failing) to defend Meg. Defend her from whom? Well, it was none other than... "Destine!" snarled Arach viciously.

In a second, his Keyblade had appeared in his hand and he was rushing toward her. "Aw, it's just like old times!" cooed Holly as she ran after Arach with Laurence almost directly behind her.

"Yeah, only we're fighting _against _Destine and not with her," pointed out Laurence as Destine turned just in time to block Arach's Keyblade.

Holly waved him off as she dove at Destine's feet. "Then, it's just like our days in Lomura Kai." Laurence and even Arach managed small chuckles.

Hercules immediately joined Meg before whisking her off to the top of the bleachers. Phil followed behind them while Quince and Nalani also charged at the dark wielder. "_Nalani_," spat Destine like the name was poisonous.

Nalani responded with a pleasant smile along with a graviga spell. "Oh, hey, sorry about that. It's so hard to hear weak insults from someone who's so tiny," she remarked as Destine became flattened against the ground.

"You chose _her _over _me_?!" demanded Destine of Arach the minute she was able to jump back up. A surge of darkness pushed everyone away from her.

Arach chuckled coldly. "I chose her over you a _long _time ago. It's been over between us for quite some time, Des."

Scowling, Destine tried her hardest to charge into Arach, but she was pulled back by Laurence and Holly. "God, Destine, let it go. You can't have someone that doesn't want you," remarked Laurence, much to his sister's entertainment.

"Uh, hypocrite much, Laur?" replied Holly with a wide grin. Her brown eyes flitted over to Arach. "So. What do we do with the bitch?"

Yuffie's shuriken sliced into Laurence's arm, forcing him to let go of the wielder, while Ceron knocked over Holly with a look of self-hate clearly printed on his face. Nalani knew she merely needed to look up and to the left and she would find Hades watching and laughing.

Ceron pushed past the others and approached Nalani. The minute he did so, a barrier went up and around them. "...Fucking A," murmured Nalani as she gripped the Staff of EaKaze tightly in her hand. "Ceron, this isn't you. I know that you would never hurt me, and I never wanted to hurt you either!"

With a pained expression, Ceron nodded, "I know." Still, he struck diagonally at her chest, ripping into her shirt and spurting her blood onto his clothes. At the same time, another surge of darkness knocked everyone away from her. Holly and Laurence did not get up from their spots on the ground, and Quince was thrown back into the bleachers.

Smiling to herself, Destine approached Arach and another barrier sprung around them. He scowled at her before quickly glancing over at Nalani; she was refusing to fight Ceron and would only defend herself. With an Aero spell cast, she tried her best to jump away from him, but... her clothes were already soaked with her blood. "Let's make this quick," growled Arach at his girlfriend of many, many years ago.

Destine put an index finger to her lips. "Oh, Arach, that's what you _always _say," she complained before running to meet his Keyblade with her own.

**XxxxxX**

**-Jewel's Grove-**

Stefa wondered why, most likely, Cinahem would have sent an extremely weak Heartless to Jewel's Grove. However, she reminded herself that he was probably ignorant of her presence and had only been hoping to, what, destroy the world with darkness?

Like that hadn't been done before.

She accidentally snorted whilst still underwater and had to increase her speed to the top of the water. On her way up, Screwdrivers, Aquatanks, and Sea Neons appeared.

The large Heartless itself may have been on the weaker side but, coupled with the lesser Heartless, she doubted that it would be very easy to defeat. Particularly if she didn't surface and get some air soon. Rushing forward with her Keyblade, Stefa awkwardly attempted to defeat the Heartless. Once they were gone, the squid grabbed her with its tentacles and hurled her into the air.

Once she was in the air, she took advantage of the moment to take deep gulps of air before bellyflopping back into the water. Dazed, Stefa tried to simply keep her head above the water. Again, the squid seized her with its tentacles.

She glanced down at her arms and noticed that she was beginning to get welts. _'What's the worst this thing can do to me?' _wondered Stefa as she allowed it to pull her toward its face while she tried to recuperate, _'Eat me?' _

As if she had spoken the magic words, the squid revealed a large and extremely-sharp beak. Her eyes widened. _'That's something I'd like to avoid.' _She struggled against the tentacles, but they were binding her arms to her sides. "Thundaga!" cried Stefa as she forced her hand into a painful and awkward up position in order to cast the spell.

When the lightning touched down on herself and the squid, she knew that the pain had been worth it; the Heartless dissolved into darkness, and the clouds in the sky began to lighten.

At the same time, she, herself, was sucked into the darkness.

**XxxxxX**

**-Olympus Coliseum-**

Another blow from Ceron's longsword knocked Nalani into a corner of the barrier. After such a long time of not seeing him in battle had passed, she'd forgotten how great of a fighter he was. Even if he was ordered to kill her, Nalani refused to kill him.

Ceron had been her first love and her friend if nothing else.

Even though she knew Ceron wanted her to only be happy, she knew that he couldn't help what he was doing. She also knew that he _hated _what he was doing. This give Nalani the initiative to jump up and sweep Ceron's feet from under him with her long staff.

She was amazed to see him smile as he fell to the ground. At the same time, she recalled that the exact area they were currently in was also the first place that she'd ever seen him smile. When she saw him smile, it had been so breath taking. And, truth be told, it still was. "Just defend yourself, Nalani!" Quince was yelling from inside his own barrier. He was, apparently, fighting Yuffie one-on-one.

Nalani pursed her lips. She was a tiny bit grateful for what he'd done so far for her since they'd arrived. At the same time, she was completely and totally pissed. Before she could voice these thoughts aloud, a wooden doll was hurled over and into the barrier as a voice she recognized as Naminé's calling out, "Hold on!"

The doll looked exactly like a mini-version of Ceron. As it appeared before him, a golden light escaped from the doll and flew into Ceron. He glanced down at himself before grinning. "I'm free!"

Yuffie squealed the same exact thing before tackling Quince to the ground, Yuffie's version of a gleeful hug. The two barriers fell, leaving only... Arach and Destine. "Curaga," Nalani finally murmured as she raised EaKaze. The healing light engulfed all -- except for Destine -- in the room. There were collective cries of thanks in response as everyone watched Arach and Destine.

"Arach, I thought that you loved me?" whimpered Destine after her Keyblade was knocked out of her hand.

Smiling mercilessly, Arach replied, "Think again." He swatted his sharp Keyblade across her throat and blood exploded all over. Naminé and Kairi grimaced and averted their eyes.

"I will get you; I swear to God, Arach. One day, I'll come back and I _will get you_! Don't you forget it, Nalani. Your children will someday be at _my _mercy," snarled Destine before she faded into darkness.

Arach pushed his hair out of his eyes and grinned. "Well, that was easy." Nalani half-glanced Ceron's way before sprinting forward and glomping Arach.

"That's what we always say -- uh, said -- about the girls at _my _school," recalled Nalani fondly in a surprising unison with Ceron and Quince. The three of them, and Arach, laughed.

Hades materialized in the center of the arena and everyone backed away from him. "I expected this much to happen, so it's really no problem," he remarked with a smile that revealed he was on the edge of snapping. "So long as everything else has gone according to plan..."

"Sir!" shouted Pain as he and Panic abruptly entered the arena. Hades' hands clenched into fists at their appearance.

"What. Is. It?" asked the god through gritted teeth as his blue skin began to turn lighter.

"U-uh, s-sir, t-that w-w-woman got a-away!" finished Panic with a cry as he covered his head with his hands.

Hades was still wearing a smile. Nalani's hands tightly gripped Arach's shirt; it was a very unnerving thing to see Hades grinning in such a fashion. "Oh. Okay. You mean the one person that can free Riku escaped? No problem; none at all. Maybe Cinahem will be merciful and kill you two idiots for me!" His calm blue exploded into red and the imps retreated.

"Where's Riku?" demanded Sora as his Keyblade flashed into his hand.

The Lord of the Underworld narrowed his eyes at the Keyblade master. "Why don't you just ask him when he gets back?!" exploded Hades before snapping and then disappearing.

"... What was that snap supposed to do?" asked Roxas hesitantly after a minute or so.

The answer came in the form of a large creature dropping from the sky.

**XxxxxX**

**-Unknown-**

Stefa came to in another unfamiliar place. When she realized that she wasn't drowning, she was relieved, but the relief was short-lived. She sat up and found herself sitting on a hill of some sort with a perfect view of a very yellow moon, a harvest moon, she recalled. "Oh, you're awake!" A voice from behind her cheered.

Frightened, Stefa jumped...

... and landed at the very bottom of the hill.

A plump yellow bear overlooked the semi-cliff with a concerned expression. "Oh, bother. Are you okay, friend?"

"Yeah... Uh. Who are you?" asked Stefa with the friendliest smile.

The bear returned the smile, but it was ten times friendlier. "Why, I'm Winnie the Pooh bear!"

* * *

**A/n: Lolololz. At least Stefa hasn't landed in a Heartless/Luce/Nobody infested world? ... Or has, she? x3 We'll see. Riku's back, hooray! God only knows what I'll do with Aerith (because I've no clue what I did with her before Dx) and Hades has just summoned yet another monster to do his bidding for him. This chapter was certainly longer than the previous ones. Good! :DD Please review.**


	8. VIII: I Won't Fall Down

**Chapter VIII:**

**I Won't Fall Down**

**A/n: Thank you to all of the reviewers who reviewed the original because they're surprisingly helpful at jogging my memory. Or, at least, helpful in giving me ideas of what to do for the chapters. xD Sososo that means Bonbon, Lesser (por supuesto ;3), catharsis, Princessdarkfairy and anyone else. :D**

**As for my newest reviewer, K.L. Clarion, definitely thank you because I wouldn't be determined in finishing this story if it wasn't for you. xD :D**

**I couldn't understand why I used such a pretty, sweet song originally for this chapter... so I had to change it. xD' **

_'And this is all I've got_

_I'll make it now or not_

_It's made up of my love_

_I've fought so hard to fade_

_Our lives are meant to make_

_It's made up of my love_

_Made up of my love_

_That's how it goes, it goes.'_

**-"Could Tell A Love" by Blessthefall**

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**

The creature that Hades summoned dropped from the sky was a deep indigo color and had a very long tail, but no one was very intimidated. The 'no one' being Nalani, Quince, Arach, Holly, and Laurence. "Pfft, we can do this," remarked Laurence to his sister, Arach, and Nalani before running forward with his Keyblade raised.

"Wait, Laurence!" cried Sora just as Laurence raised his Keyblade and, with some extra effort, lobbed the head off. Feeling extremely victorious and good in general about himself, Laurence turned back around and beamed as the body fell behind him.

Expecting Sora to apologize, Laurence said, "See, Sora?"

Roxas smacked his forehead. "That's a _hydra_, Laurence. Ever heard of one of those?"

As the wheels turned in Laurence's head, Holly gasped, "Hydra's heads... multiply if you slice them off."

"Bingo," groaned Sora as green blood began to spurt from the stump and the head materialized. Two more heads appeared on either side of it.

"Run, Laur!" cried Holly at the same time as the Hydra's growled. When her brother didn't move, she surged forward and huffed, "I'm always the brain."

Arach rolled his eyes and pulled Nalani after him. "We'd better go before those two get themselves killed."

"Couldn't agree more myself," agreed the mage as she raised her staff and cast a gravira spell on a head that was about to devour Laurence. Whilst Holly and Arach prepared to jump at the other two heads, the mouths opened and breathed fire on them. "Aeroga!" cried Nalani, casting the spell on herself and the Keyblade wielders.

Ceron rushed in with his longsword alongside Quince with their weapons raised. "Hey, Hawaii, this reminds me of the last time we fought together in this place," remarked the longsword wielder as he stabbed at the Hydra's chest. "Except, of course, your best friend isn't here getting smashed up every ten seconds."

Smiling faintly at the memory of finishing off Cerberus with Ceron and Stefa, Nalani nodded. "Yeah, she's on some beach having a wonderful time..."

**XxxxxX**

**-100 Acre Wood-**

"You're Pooh Bear! Sora told me a lot about you," remarked Stefa with a grin as the little bear led her across the bridge at Starry Hill.

"Will he come visit soon?" asked Pooh Bear thoughtfully as they paused in the center of the bridge.

Stefa nodded. "I'll tell him to once I see him," she promised. Foxes materialized around them and she scowled. "Can't I get a break? I thought Sora said that enemies don't come into the book!"

_**'Luces are creatures of complete light. Shadows and Nobodies aren't very interested in the completely pure, so... maybe it's because this book's completely pure?' **_suggested Reixka as Heart's Seal and Sakura Dawning flashed into Stefa's hands.

It was a likely enough answer. "Pooh, why don't you go take cover somewhere?" The bear nodded and ducked into a nearby bush. "...Okay." Stefa quickly fell the surrounding Foxes but more and more continued to take their places. "What the hell?"

_**'The keyhole, Stefa,' **_sang Reixka, _**'Find out where it is.' **_

Another good point. Although she hadn't particularly enjoyed having Reixka back at first, she was now glad that she had two minds to think with. "Pooh," called Stefa as she killed off another Fox, "where is the most important place in your home?"

Pooh stuck his head out of his bush and gestured to where they were. "...Here? Then, why...?" As she began to ask this, Heart's Seal and Sakura Dawning were dragged forward. Two beams of black light shot out of the tips of the Keyblades and entered into the moon. An audible click sounded, and the Luces disappeared.

Stefa's heart quickened just a little at the darkness that she had just used to seal the world. _**'Breathe, Princess. Breathe.' **_Pooh hopped out of his bush and approached Stefa with a smile. "Thank you, friend! Please tell Sora to visit soon!"

"I will, Pooh," promised Stefa before glancing around. "How do I get out of here?"

"Sora just always went down the path," replied Pooh before waving. "Goodbye, Stefa!"

**XxxxxX**

**-Olympus Coliseum-**

The Hydra's fire-breathing and thunder shocking ways kept everyone away from it. Once things began to look extremely dangerous, Hercules had escorted Meg, Yuffie (who had begged to stay), and Phil to safety. After growing tired of having his hair singed once again, Quince suggested, "Pegasus is locked up in the Underworld, right? Maybe someone should _get _him before we get killed?"

Sora groaned. "I'll go..."

"No need!" A voice, so soft that they hadn't been sure they'd heard it, shouted. Another second later, the sound of loud rushing wings filled the air and a large shadow fell over the partially destroyed Coliseum.

Nalani's eyebrows knitted together as she glanced at Quince and Ceron. "That voice..."

"Is _so _familiar..." mumbled Ceron.

Kairi tapped her finger against her chin. "You know, it almost sounds like..."

"Elie!" shouted Quince as the large dragon descended upon them and the rider became visible. She had not much changed since he'd last seen her. Her thick and slightly curly chocolate hair was tied in two lower ponytails that reached halfway down her shoulder blades.

The Hydra's three heads roared with dislike as Elie and her dragon touched down on the ground. "Oh, I brought a friend," added Elie as a white winged-horse also landed on the ground.

"Pegasus!" cried Nalani with delight.

Grinning, Elie remarked, "Okay, I have a plan. Ceron, Nalani, and Arach, **(A/n: Awkwarddd) ** take Pegasus. Ceron, you slice off the heads. Nalani, you use thunder spells, and Arach, you use that fun poison attack of yours on the stump. I will follow behind you and Ladon," Elie patted the neck of her dragon, "will breathe fire while I do some slicing."

"Anyone else more than a little concerned that she already regards Arach as a friend?" murmured Sora, earning himself a dirty look from Nalani.

"No fair, don't we get to ride the dragon?" asked Roxas with a frown. Giggling, Elie nodded.

"Sure, some of you can come with me. Roxas, since you can wield duel-Keyblades, you should stay on the ground. Quince, Kairi, and Naminé can come with me. Quince... I have a plan for you."

Leaving many disgruntled wielders on the ground, those that Elie named climbed onto their respective mounds. Once Ladon kicked back off into the air, Kairi frowned. "What's wrong?" asked Naminé as Kairi reached into a large back attached to her dress.

Ceron, whilst holding onto Pegasus' neck with one hand, sliced off the three heads, Nalani immediately began casting thundaga, and Arach tried to aim his poisonous strikes at the stumps but missed. "Way to go, Spiderboy," murmured the longsword wielder as Pegasus took off higher into the sky.

"I actually prefer Spiderman," remarked Arach with an arrogant smile. "I guess we'll have to go again."

"You're telling me," murmured Ceron. "Elie!"

Ladon got down close enough for the Keyblade wielders to reach the Hydra with their Keyblades. At the same time, Kairi pulled out the 100 Acre Woods book. "What the hell, Kairi?" asked Quince as he glanced back at the large book.

"There was a lot of moving going on; I wonder what's happening...?" she mumbled to herself as she opened the book.

"Alright, Quince, jump!" shouted Elie.

Quince stared at his cousin as if she was crazy, which he'd always had his suspicions of. "_What?!" _

Rolling her eyes, Elie pushed Quince off of Ladon. The fall wasn't very long, and he effortlessly landed on the Hydra's back. "Tada, that was the plan!" she called to him.

As Kairi opened the book, Stefa was thrown out.

Out and over the dragon. "For the love of _God_," muttered Quince, holding out his arms as the princess hurled towards him. He easily caught her bridal-style in his arms. Stefa smiled before smacking him upside the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Cheating on me!" replied Stefa as he lowered her onto the back of the Hydra. Its heads, which had been dug into the ground, were abruptly lifted back up. This time, it came up with seven heads. "Whoa. Hydra." Heart's Seal and Sakura Dawning appeared in Stefa's hands.

As Pegasus flew downward, he passed the seven heads. "Aeroga!" cried Nalani as she raised her staff.

"Thanks!" called Stefa before she climbed up one of the necks, carefully balanced herself, and struck out at a head.

Quince climbed up the neck beside her. "We're the distractions; you know that, right?"

Stefa smiled serenely. "Oh, you mean like the girl you cheated with was?" He scowled.

"Is now a good time to fight about this?"

"Maybe!"

"Watch it!" shouted Ceron as Pegasus dove toward the heads again. Stefa ducked, but Ceron missed quite a few heads. "For the mother f--!" Nalani elbowed him.

"That's bad, Ceron," remarked the mage with a grin. "Anyway, I have a new plan, but we need to regroup."

"Regroup!" yelled Arach at Elie's group as well as Quince and Stefa. The latter group jumped off of the Hydra's back and ran until they were quite sure that at least the mouths couldn't reach them.

Rolling her eyes, Elie nodded and Ladon lifted back towards the ground. Nalani quickly raised the Staff of EaKaze, forming a barrier. "This isn't going to last, but I have an idea," informed Nalani as she ran a finger over her staff. It drew blood. "Arach, Stefa, and I will take Pegasus. Quince will distract the Hydra on its back. Elie, you and your group, including Ceron, can do what you were doing before. Sora, Roxas, Laurence, and Holly... you can distract the Hydra from down here."

Stefa was sure to climb onto Pegasus first, then Nalani, and then Arach. "What are we doing, Nalani?" asked Stefa as she held onto Pegasus with one hand while holding Heart's Seal in the other.

"We, my very best friend, are going to make heads roll," answered the mage with a grin as the winged horse kicked off and into the air.

"Wonderland rubbed off on you, didn't it?" asked Stefa as she readied her Keyblade.

Arach kept his eyes intent on the Hydra. "Alright. Ready, set, dive!" ordered the ex-dark wielder of Pegasus, who immediately swooped down. Stefa's stomach dropped like it would on a roller coaster ride. "Now, gu--girls!"

With Stefa and Nalani leaning over the side of Pegasus, they swiped at the heads and... successfully severed all seven of them. "Arach, Elie, go!" exclaimed Nalani as she and Stefa pulled themselves back onto Pegasus.

A steady jet of poison expelled from the tip of Arach's Keyblade and, from a distance, Ladon breathed a stream of fire. When the heads could no longer grow back, the Hydra fell to the ground and Quince jumped off its back. The remaining Keyblade wielders on the ground finished off the Hydra with a few good strikes from their Keyblades.

The Hydra erupted in a jet of darkness that promised to take over the group. As Ladon closed in on the ground, Naminé and Kairi grabbed hands and shouted, "Light!" As they'd done before, they expelled the light in their hearts through their hands and at the darkness.

Once the darkness cleared, all that was left were the woozy Keyblade wielders and Ceron below. A light portal appeared at the doorway of the lobby and Sora, expecting to see Kaeli exit it, whirled around with his Keyblade.

Neither of the two figures that exited were Kaeli. One was a tall, silver-haired boy and the other was a brunette with her hair tied back with a pink ribbon. "Riku! ... Aerith?!"

* * *

**A/N: I have no clue what the original Hydra fight was, but I actually really liked that one. x3 I did my research, as I did last time, and followed what mythology says... to a point. That was kinda short. Dx That's okay; it was last time, too. x3 Please review and I will see you all next chapter. **


	9. IX: A Time When We were so Alive

**IX:**

**A Time When We were so Alive**

**A/n: Another chapter where I'm changing the song. :DD Actually, this song helped me finish up the chapter and, in the case of Aerith and Ceron... and other stuff that happens in this chapter, I think the song works. :3**

**My main focus has been on this story -- in fact, I probably won't update the sequel until I'm done with this -- so I'm actually kind of sick now from... God only knows what. xD' The fact that I'm updating once again proves that I have no self-restraint.**

**Disclaimer - I only own the OCs. The plot... is more or less Lesser's. x3**

_'And when we get home, I know we won't be home at all_

_This place we live, it is not where we belong_

_And I miss who we were in the town that we could call our own_

_Going back to get away after everything has changed.'_

**-"Franklin" by Paramore**

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**

After the appearance of two people that she was equally relieved to see, Stefa had no clue who she was going to hug first. Riku helped make the decision for her by hanging back while Aerith walked forward. "Aerith!"

The last time she'd seen the flower girl's face had been in her dreams while she'd been sleeping and, likewise, the nightmares that haunted her so often. Stefa embraced Aerith and was surprised to see that she was about as tall as the woman. "Stefa, you've really grown," laughed the woman pleasantly. "Nalani, you have, too. I can tell."

Stefa hadn't even realized that her best friend was beside her until Aerith spoke. That's right. Aerith had guided Nalani back home. "Aerith, what are you _doing _here?"

"Hades revived me," replied Aerith. "In a sense. He had some sort of bargain with another god who actually had the power to get me. Likewise, he did the same for Ceron. His plans for both of us failed."

"What was the plan?" Sora, now relaxed that danger was gone and Riku was back, asked with his arms resting behind his head.

Aerith tilted her head to the side as she considered the question. "He wanted to use Ceron to get to Nalani, but he never did. I suppose you were all too fast in rescuing his free will," she remarked with a small laugh. "Me... After the other god who already had me--"

"Had you for what?" interjected Kairi.

"It doesn't matter," replied Aerith with a faint smile. "Hades just wanted to make sure I didn't appear to Riku and rescue him from the Radiant Cemetery, but... now that it's all over, we have to go." Her friendly green eyes surveyed Ceron's brown ones seriously.

Ceron blinked. "Me? But... why?"

Another light giggle from Aerith. "We went to heaven, Ceron, so we have no right to be here. The reason they can stay," she gestured to the others who'd been revived, "is because they need to redeem themselves. Or because they still have something more to do. Otherwise, they'd be going straight back to... You get the picture."

It was not very surprising to hear that Holly had gone to hell, or even Laurence for that matter although he'd tried to redeem himself at the last minute. Hearing that Elie had gone to hell? It was beyond unfathomable. And Yuffie... "But, what about Yuffie?" asked Roxas. "She couldn't have gone to hell."

"You're right," agreed Aerith, "and I don't know why Hades wanted to take her, but he did. She still has more to do with her life. But we don't."

Ceron's eyes narrowed at Arach. "Oh, I'm not sure about that..." Sakura Dawning lightly hit the back of his head, and he whirled around to face her. "Stefa," he growled with annoyance. Stefa laughed; she'd missed Ceron yelling at her.

"Nalani's my best friend, and if I approve of Arach, there's a reason. Even if he's kind of been lacking in the department of helping out the rest of us -- which I'm expecting to see in the future, Arach, -- he's great to Nala. So long as he doesn't go around picking us off one by one, he's good."

Quince decided to join in the Nalani forum at that moment. "I've known her since we were kids, too, and I--"

"No one cares what you think, Quince," chirped Nalani and Stefa in unison without looking at him.

Elie was immediately suspicious. "I know what it means when they do that; Quince, you did something _wrong_. What did you do?" she demanded, her Keyblade raised. Her dragon, Ladon, had disappeared after her blowing a small whistle.

Grinning, Nalani promised, "We'll tell you later, Elie. If you went to hell, then I'm sure you were on a higher level. Quince, on the other hand, will be burning in the fire."

Riku glanced at the brunet who was simply taking their abuse. He shook his head and decided not to bother trying to understand. Then again, Quince _had _done a few rotten things. Particularly the cheating.

"Fine, fine," mumbled Ceron although he approached Arach nonetheless. "Listen here, Spiderboy,"

"Spiderman," corrected Arach.

Ceron ignored him. "If I see you've done _anything _to Nalani at all, then I will become a fallen fucking angel and come down here to kick your ass. Alright?" The majority of the group laughed while Arach merely rolled his eyes. Then, Ceron turned towards Nalani. "I love you. I always have loved you, and I always will love you. Aerith's right, though; I don't belong here... because you're already happy. So I'll watch over you and your children and your children's children. Scout's owner," he added with a grin.

Nalani lightly shoved him. "You were never a boy scout."

"That's because, as a kid, I'd rather buy cookies from the cute girl scouts while flirting with them rather than competing with them," replied the longsword wielder with a large grin. Ceron did his famous two-finger salute before joining Aerith.

A soft and bright white light engulfed Ceron and Aerith. It seemed to have no source because it appeared to be coming from everywhere; the light reminded Nalani of when she'd been lost in the light realm just a few years earlier after being badly injured by Xehamnes.

"Closure. Maybe that's why the other god had Aerith. Perhaps she couldn't yet get into heaven without giving the majority of her friends closure," remarked Naminé as the bright light faded.

Everyone remained quiet for a while as they fell into their own thoughts. Laurence was the one to launch them out of it. "Well, my first business as a new man--"

Nalani thought she vaguely heard Arach mutter, "That's debatable."

"and woman," added Holly, "would be to help you guys out. So, Riku," she spoke in the annoyingly sweet voice that had always made him want to choke her. He realized, as he glanced at her, that she was doing it on purpose. "What's the Radiant Cemetery?"

"Can we possibly talk about this at the Radiant Garden? I wanna go home!" Yuffie whined as she entered the arena with Hercules, Phil, and Meg.

**XxxxxX**

Back in the Radiant Garden -- following a very squished and uncomfortable ride -- Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, Nalani, Arach, and Quince strode confidently into Merlin's house. "What's got you all so jolly?" asked Tifa with a raised eyebrow from where she was sitting at a small table in the living room.

"Olympus Coliseum is taken care of, the keyhole's been sealed, but they weren't really having a light problem," noted Sora. The door to Merlin's house was closed.

"What sort of problem were they having?" asked Leon with a sigh as he took the bait.

"A revival-happy, crazy God of the Underworld type of problem," answered Nalani. "We saw a lot of people."

"Like?" prompted Cloud.

"Me!" cheered Yuffie as she burst through the front door and bound straight into Leon's arms. His normally indifferent features were alive with surprise and... relief.

Laurence and Holly slowly entered the house next. "Us," murmured Laurence, completely unsurprised to see everyone grab for their weapons.

"They're good now," assured another voice, Stefa, as she entered the house next with Elie and Riku behind her.

Tifa, her brown eyes still wide with shock, murmured, "_That _sounds like one good visit all right."

**XxxxxX**

"Hades revived everyone?" asked Cloud with his eyebrows raised. It took Stefa a moment, but she recalled that Cloud had a history with the Lord of the Dead. Sora nodded.

"Those he could revive, like them," the brunet gestured to Holly, Laurence, and Elie, "but, apparently, he had a bargain with another god who had the ability to get Ceron, Aerith, and Yuffie."

"Still can't believe _you _went to hell," mumbled Nalani to Elie quietly as they barely listened to the conversation around them.

"Yeah," added Stefa under her breath, "I wonder if that means that God isn't quite so biased about murder after all. Great. We're going to hell, Nala."

Smirking across the table, Quince murmured, "I always knew you two would."

Under the table, the Staff of EaKaze materialized and stamped into Quince's foot. "How many times are we going to have to remind you that we're not talking to you?"

"Anything either of you would like to add?" Leon, with a knowing smirk, asked Stefa and Nalani.

Stefa nodded. "As a matter of fact, I do. When Reixka and I got sent to Jewel's Grove, a huge Squid Heartless was sent to... either distract me or omnom the world. But, since it was a Heartless and not a Luce, I'm not very sure."

Nalani, Quince, and Elie hardly looked surprised to hear their home world had, yet again, been attacked. "Either way, there must be _something _about Jewel's Grove that everyone wants," noted Quince.

"Or maybe Dennis is just attacking it because Jewel's Grove was his home and he wants to erase all signs of his past?" suggested Elie. Roxas noticed she was the only one to call Cinahem by his original name.

"Be that as it may be," began Cloud as he glanced at Stefa, "Did you take care of the Heartless?" He already knew the answer but decided to humor her nonetheless.

At the same time, Kairi asked, "And why did you come out of the 100 Acre Woods book?"

"Of course I killed the Heartless, Cloud," replied Stefa with a proud grin. "Kairi, well... I kind of got sucked into the darkness that it left behind, and I guess I got sent there, of all places." She shrugged. "Good thing, though."

"Light, darkness," named Leon on two fingers, "We should see if you can become overpowered by nothingness, while we're at it."

Nalani abruptly stood, causing the chair to squeak as she moved. "It's been an exciting day so, if you'd excuse me, I'd like to take Stefa with me to do some... talking." Blinking, but flawlessly loyal, Stefa also got to her feet. "Ice cream's on me," added Nalani.

_'Good thing; I have no munny left,' _thought Stefa as they exited the kitchen. "Don't wait up!" called Nalani over her shoulder.

**XxxxxX**

**-The Great Maw-**

True enough, Nalani and Stefa had their traditions, but numerous amounts of them had been abandoned since they'd gotten sucked into the Keyblade wielding world. Their newest tradition that had been formed as a result had yet to be forgotten by them.

Sitting on the highest cliff of the Great Maw, Stefa and Nalani ate their Seasalt ice cream while holding another discussion entirely. "How did it feel to see Ceron again?"

The mage was quiet for a minute as she considered the question. Her ice cream was dripping by the time she answered. "Weird. I still have... feelings for him, obviously, but I wouldn't leave Arach. I love Arach and, despite what he's done, that will never change."

"Good for you," remarked Stefa a bit unenthusiastically. Nalani raised her eyebrows and stared at her.

"Issues, Princess?" a knowing grin appeared on both of their faces.

"Certainly, but not the make out with her friends' kind," answered Stefa, as Nalani knew she would. **(A/n: Inside joke. 'nuff said. xD) **"Seriously, I'm so angry at Quince, but Riku is taking me back. I _love _Riku, but I have these... seemingly mixed up feelings for Quince. It's stupid."

Nalani tapped her on the head. "Never stupid, Stef. It makes sense as to why. I mean, you've known and loved Quince forever. You've loved Riku for quite some time and, if you ask me, he's been mostly better to you. But, I think you and I can both agree that Quince's actions did for you what words couldn't. Now you don't have to make a choice because Quince is a jackass."

A small smile appeared on Stefa's face. Whenever Nalani cheered her up, she was sure to butcher the person who had caused Stefa's pain in the first place. "Ah, you're right. No use in lingering over things better left... unlingered upon?" She half-asked. They burst into laughter.

"That's so very sweet," A voice, not all that familiar to either of them, cooed from directly behind them. They were extremely caught off guard and, for that, Aidan was satisfied. "You two are coming with me."

"With _us_, he means," corrected a deeper voice as they turned and noticed a silver-haired man, Farkas, standing beside him. His lips were curled back unpleasantly to reveal surprisingly sharp teeth.

Heart's Seal and the Staff of EaKaze appeared almost instantly. Neither of the men were worried. Aidan disappeared and reappeared behind the girls. He quickly and efficiently knocked them unconscious with his Keyblade.

**XxxxxX  
-Merlin's House-**

Arach bolted up from his spot on one of the couches abruptly, causing Kairi to stare at him. "Problems, Arach?" Riku's eyebrows were knitted together and Quince was simply staring at the ex-dark wielder as if he was crazy which, he thought, wasn't a far off possibility  
"The girls are in trouble," answered Arach with an uncharacteristically concerned expression. Kairi's eyes met Riku's  
"How can you be sure?" asked Riku although he was already on his feet.  
Shaking his head, Arach replied, "I can just tell."  
"It's his spidey senses," remarked Quince although he also stood up. "It's funny that you can tell after dating Nalani, who rarely gets herself into danger, for such a short amount of time and I, who've known her since we were kids, can't tell for Stefa who is _constantly _in danger.  
Kairi glanced at him before she headed for the kitchen in order to inform the others, "Maybe it's because you're constantly inflicting your own pain on her?" she suggested before turning toward Riku and Arach. "Go check the Great Maw; we'll meet you there."

* * *

**A/n: Dun dun dun! No one ever gets a break in my stories, it seems. xD' I'm so happy I finally gave Nalani and Ceron some closure. :D What Aidan and Farkas could possibly want with Nalani and Stefa? :o Next chapter will probably (hopefully) be up lots later so I have the chance to get better. Please review! :3**


	10. X: The Storms I've Weathered

**X:**

The Storms I've Weathered

**A/n: Augh. The formatting got weird at the end of last chapter. Dx' So, uh, Arach's spidey senses are something of a joke between Lesser and I; we were talking about it once and decided that's how they'd know if Nalani and anyone with her were in danger.**

**About this chapter... I could remember one or two things -- not a whole lot -- so I've got new (maybe they're new?) ideas! **

_'I don't know where to go_

_I don't know what to be_

_I don't know how to change from being me_

_I don't know what to say_

_Maybe another day_

_I'll stop getting lost and find my way, home_

_All I know is gone.'_

**-"I Don't Know" by lostprophets**

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**

As they sprinted through the Bailey and down the Ravine Trail, Elie demanded, "Quince, what did you do in order to epically piss of Nalani and Stefa? Besides, you know, the obvious like: you being a jackass, your -- our," she had to correct herself quietly, "destroying Jewel's Grove the first time, and did I mention being a jackass?"

Riku and Arach, who were a few good paces in front of the cousins, smirked as Elie's words floated to them. "I'll give you a hint, Elie," Arach, more at ease with Elie than he was with anyone else because she'd accepted him so easily, began, "it indeed has something to do with Quince being a jackass."

"Surprise, surprise," murmured Riku as he fell Shadows that got in his way. The closer they got to the Great Maw, the more numerous the Heartless became. He knew well that he, Arach, and Elie were only a bit on the joking side because they were nervous.

Quince scowled as he narrowly avoided a blow from a Morning Star. "What the hell is it with all of these Heartless?"

"Why, it's one of the Morning Stars from this morning; it just wants you to love it," replied Arach with a grin. _'Morning. Only morning. Shit.' _

"Arach, I'll punch you in the face again," warned Quince as he fell the Heartless with a blast of fira magic.

Elie tripped him with her Keyblade, further hindering their progress. "And I will kill you in the face if you don't tell me what happened. When I was alive, Stefa _loved _you, not to rub it in or anything, Riku." He put up an unoffended hand.

"I cheated on Stefa."

Riku already knew that but hearing the words from Quince's mouth had an odd effect on him. Quince didn't sound as guilty as he should have. "Quince--" Before he had the chance to say anything Elie, with her metal-bottomed boots, stepped on Quince's hand.

"Uh, I think this could take a while; we'll go on ahead!" called Arach to the cousins before gesturing for Riku to continue.

"With _whom_?" demanded Elie. "Do you know what that girl did for you? Are you aware of what she _ever _has done for you? No? That's not surprising. She had to make a difficult decision, and she picked you, you miserable, unappreciative jerk."

Quince hadn't gotten the opportunity to get a word in edgewise. As Riku and Arach drifted into the crystal fissure cave, they knew Quince had given a response, but they couldn't hear it. Even as they entered the Great Maw, they could hear Elie shriek, "You cheated with that _whore_?"

"And that, Riku, is why I'm pleased to see Elie's forgiven me immediately," reported Arach as his dark eyes scanned the cliffs for Nalani and Stefa. Nothing. "Where the hell could they be?"

"I guess you were right; something's wrong," remarked Riku as they began to climb up the steep cliffs.

"I wish I could say that I'm happy about that," murmured Arach miserably as they reached the top of the cliff. Riku glanced at him briefly. It was amazing to him that Arach had been working against them just a year ago, murdering their friends, and now he was docile and deeply concerned about Nalani.

It brought up a question that Riku had been wondering about since Ceron had been murdered: Had Arach killed Ceron in order to have Nalani?

He shook the thought from his head as he focused on the task at hand. His eyes could pick up nothing; there was absolutely no sign of either Nalani or Stefa. Melted, half-eaten sea salt ice creams caught his attention. "Fuck," breathed Riku in unison with Arach.

**XxxxxX**

**-Unknown world-**

Kaeli was bent over a small notebook when Cinahem entered the room. He looked extremely annoyed, but it was hardly her concern. "I'm so tired of you misleading everyone," she remarked without looking up.

"What are you writing?" asked Cinahem in return as he situated himself over her shoulder.

She did not move to hide it. "A will." Her simple reply made him straighten up and narrow his eyes. Everything that Kaeli did was infuriating to him.

"Are you planning on killing yourself? Is there a suicide note to go along with that?" She heard what he wasn't saying: _'Will you finally leave us so that I can successfully take control?' _"I was hardly aware that you had anything to your name; last I checked, this all belongs to the Superior."

Kaeli scowled. "Right. The _Superior _and not _you_. Or are you forgetting your place now, too?"

Her words, so familiar to his own lips, were enemies to his ears. "I am not you; I know where I stand."

She finished her final sentence, pushed back her icy blue hair, and closed the notebook. Her lips pulled back into a gorgeous, yet bitter, smile. "If the lies keep you going, then, by all means, continue to lie to yourself. It does not make you anymore real."

Cinahem yanked her up by the back of her black jean jacket. "I have seen you change since I first brought you here, Kaeli; at first, you were annoying, always causing trouble, and sweet. Now, you are still annoying, still causing trouble, and bitter. Not the best for a Luce creature, no?"

Kaeli scowled and lunged at him. "_You _have no right to be touching me or pretending like you are better than me. _You _did not create me." Her amber eyes narrowed in defeat. "As for my being a Luce... thanks to you, that is no longer the complete truth. Like all of the Luces you have been using, I am tainted.

"But I'm unlike the rest of the human Luces here. You don't scare me, Cinnamon," she smiled at the name she'd often heard the girls, Nalani and Stefa, used to address him. "I know that the fact that I don't fear you frightens you especially since I've convinced the others of what you really are."

A boy burst into the room at that moment, interrupting their conversation. He glanced from Cinahem to Kaeli and back to Cinahem. "Uh, Aidan and Farkas grabbed the mage and the princess."

Scoffing, Cinahem dropped Kaeli to the floor. Her knee banged against her desk, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he'd injured her. "Alright, that means it's just about time. You just behave until we need you, Kaeli. You, Rusl, come with me."

Kaeli shot the boy a sympathetic look as he exited the room with Cinahem. Rusl had worked with the light wielders and, by some stroke of luck, managed to escape the massacre that Nalani, Arach, and Axel had performed on the Castle a year earlier. He'd been the very same light wielder who had gotten the edge of a windowsill lodged into his head. **(A/n: That happened in the middle of Beyond Black & White at Beast's Castle. He prolly won't be very important, just wanted to give those of you who needed it closure about his location. xD) **

The Castle that lay only some feet ahead of the building in which they were staying. Kaeli did not move from her spot on the floor and instead sighed. _'Kingdom Hearts... that is where this will all really begin.'_

**XxxxxX**

**-The Radiant Garden-**

"Are you sure I've been gone a year?" asked Yuffie with raised eyebrows some time following the discovery that Nalani and Stefa were missing. "Because this is starting to seem _awfully _familiar."

Leon and a few others managed weak smiles. Everyone had gathered in the kitchen. "It comes with the territory of being Stefa," remarked Quince although everyone disregarding him. Tifa had given him a bowl of ice water to dip his injured hand in. He refused to tell anyone what happened and neither Elie nor Riku offered up an explanation, either. Arach, on the other hand, had not been quite so merciful.

"I used to think that there was no one would could find themselves in more troubling situations than Stefa; then I met the rest of the Jewel's Grove denizens," murmured Axel. "You guys are constantly getting into some type of trouble."

Elie smiled sheepishly, knowing that the pyromaniac was correct. She'd disappeared into darkness, been murdered, threatened, and numerous other things. Quince had disappeared into darkness, then nothingness, been captured on his brother's orders, and had a maniacal brother bent on conquering the worlds. Nalani had been lost to the darkness, lost her fiancé in a horrific turn of events, been teamed up with her fiancé's murder, come to the verge of death numerous times, been lost in the death, and, most recently, captured for some mysterious reason.

The Jewel's Grove residents certainly were not fortunate.

"Obviously Cinahem grabbed them but _why_?" murmured Naminé. "I can't understand why."

"I'm thinking that Farkas is a Nobody, so we know why they want Stefa; it's the same reason as always," remarked Roxas, "but Nalani..."

Arach tapped his fingers against the table impatiently. "We have to find them. I don't want to even _think _about what Cinahem could possibly want with Nalani."

"Aw," cooed Holly from across the table. She was grinning. Arach glared at her.

"What are you 'aw'ing for?"

Holly licked her lips, but she couldn't force the grin to go away. "My little Arach's all grown up; he's actually concerned about another human being."

Scowling, Arach replied, "I've been concerned about people other than myself. You, Laurence, my mother..."

Frowning, Laurence whined, "I don't like having to get used to this feeling of jealousy. Why does the hula girl get every guy that I want?"

Kairi turned her eyes towards Cloud. "Can we please come up with a plan before the atmosphere at this table gets more awkward?"

"Riku, you said that you were in the Radiant Cemetery, right?" The swordsman asked; Riku nodded. "Maybe they're somewhere at the end of there."

"But we can't get there, can we, Cid?" asked Sora of the blond man brewing a cup of coffee at the counter.

Groaning about not getting his coffee, Cid headed into the other room to get a look at the computer screen. Silence settled over the table until the pilot returned five minutes later. "Radiant Cemetery and End of the World are there."

**XxxxxX**

**-Unknown World-**

Despite the fact that her head was pounding, Nalani knew that she hadn't been unconscious for long when she awoke. She also knew that having Farkas' face inches from her own was, with his looks, an offense in many countries. The Staff of EaKaze flashed into her hands, and the Nobody barked a husky laugh. "The mage is awake!"

"It's about time," Aidan, sounding bored, remarked as he entered the room. "Listen, Mage, the Superior needs something of you."

"Why could I care what your Superior needs?" spat Nalani in response as she slowly stood. Her vision swam a little as she reached her full height.

Aidan grinned smugly. "I don't _care _if you don't care; it wasn't a question. If you're not a good girl and do as we ask, then we'll have to take care of your friend."

Nalani blinked, realizing for the first time that she'd been with Stefa before being knocked unconscious. "Where is she?"

"In the hallway," answered Farkas with a shrug. Aidan threw him a look that said 'Why the fuck did you tell her?' "If you agree to be a good little worker, then I can take her with me."

To Nalani, that seemed to be the opposite of what should happen if she agreed to help. "Then how the hell am I supposed to know she's okay?"

With a bitter smile, Aidan replied, "Scout's honor." He raised his hand into a two-fingered salute. Seething, she realized that he was _mocking _her. "Calm down, little mage, we're not allowed to kill her anyway. Or you, for that matter."

"In that case, why should I help you?"

Grinning so that his teeth were showing, Farkas replied, "Because if you don't help, _then _we're allowed to kill you."

As much as she hated to admit it, Nalani knew she had no other choice. "Fine, fine. What do you want me to do?"

"You're going to research hearts," answered Aidan as he signaled for Farkas to leave. "Find out what makes a Keyblade wielder a Keyblade wielder."

**XxxxxX**

**-Axel's Gummi Ship-**

"I need to be reminded of two things," announced Quince to the ship as Axel settled into the pilot's seat. "One,_ why _is Axel driving? If I remember correctly from what Stefa told me--"

"I'm a perfectly good pilot. I can land, and I can fly. The only reason she doesn't realize that is because, at the time I acted as pilot, Tifa and I were fighting, so she sided with Tifa," remarked Axel. "Next?"

Utterly defeated, Quince continued in a mutter, "Why are we the ones going to a new world?"

At that Arach, who was handling artillery, answered, "Because Sora and the others would like to see us -- a group filled completely of people who once chose darkness -- squirm."

Holly giggled from beside Axel. She was sitting in the seat behind the ship's logistic screen. "That's cute. All of us _did _choose darkness. Well, that's not very nice."

"We'll probably beat the others to where Hawaii and Princess are, anyway," remarked Laurence from the back of the ship with a lazy shrug. "All the better for us."

"Quince, maybe you should sit down before Axel purposely stops suddenly, thus smashing you into the windshield?" suggested Holly with a wide grin as an evil glint passed through Axel's emerald eyes.

"Yeah, Quincey, come back here and sit with me!" called Laurence with a particularly large, creepy smile. A smile reminiscent of the times when he'd flirted with Ceron.

Groaning, Quince retreated to the seat in the back of the cockpit and prepared to be harassed.

**XxxxxX**

**-Sora's Ship-**

"You think it was a good idea to send a group made up of people who all once chose the darkness together to the Radiant Cemetery?" asked Elie thoughtfully from the back of the ship.

Kairi, who was assessing the ship's statistics in a seat beside Sora, replied, "It's much safer than sending them to End of the World, I'm sure."

"I bet that they've already driven each other crazy by now," remarked Roxas from beside Elie.

As Riku destroyed a nearby Heartless ship, he shook his head. "No, I bet the combination of Quince and Axel have driven them crazy by now."

"Laurence is probably flirting up Arach and Quince by now," stated Elie. "I bet that's awkward."

"Let's just focus at the task at hand?" suggested Naminé lightly, but tentatively. She knew the others were only joking to ease the tension, but she was more nervous than usual. Having light used against them time after time was starting to take a toll on her state of mind.

**XxxxxX**

**-Unknown-**

"Are you... babysitting me?" asked Stefa as Farkas whisked her through a portal and appeared on a bright path. Large, slick black doors were standing at the end of the path. To Stefa, it looked like another Kingdom Hearts entirely. Something else that convinced her of this was that their surroundings were not black by completely white.

White enough to make her think she was in some sort of mental asylum. "I suppose so," chuckled the wolf-like Nobody as he dropped her near the Kingdom Hearts' doors.

Another portal, a white one, appeared a few feet away from them. Kaeli, appearing slightly beaten up, exited it and surveyed Farkas and Stefa. "The Princess of two hearts, how nice it is to actually meet you," remarked Kaeli rather coldly. "It's not every day that I meet someone like myself, an exception to the normalcy rule."

* * *

**A/n: And that's where I'll end this. Nothing too much for me to focus on, I don't think. :3 Please review... this will probably end in about seven chapters or so. :33 I'll probably come back and add details later.**


	11. XI: Through Fortune and Flame We Fall

**XI:**

Through Fortune and Flame We Fall

**A/n: I probably haven't listened to the song whose lyrics I posted since I originally wrote this. That made it all the more special when I was listening to it again and writing this. For whatever reason, I could remember which lyrics I used for the title original. Creepy. o.o' The song works for the chapter, I think, and for all of the characters pretty well. :33**

**There is a part in this chapter that is going to be important to have in mind for the sequel. Likewise, I feel like I've been neglectful, so, thank you to all of my reviewers along with the people who are bothering to re-read this! :D**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts**

_'And when we go don't blame us, yeah._

_We'll let the fires just bathe us, yeah._

_You made us, oh, so famous._

_We'll never let you go._

_And when you go don't return to me my love.'_

**-"Mama" by My Chemical Romance**

**

* * *

  
**

"You're probably going to have a lot of worlds to fix over there, guys," remarked Sora from his plum-colored Gameboy communicator. Axel, whose flame-painted Gameboy they were using to speak to the brunet, groaned.

"Wonderful. How are we going to meet up again?"

It was Roxas who answered. "Who knows?"

"Great," the rest of Axel's group sighed. "We'll see you when we see you," murmured Holly before the screen clicked off. She turned out toward the world, whose rocky shore they were perched on, and closed her eyes.

"Reminds you of Lomura Kai, right?" Arach, who was suddenly beside her, asked with a wry smirk. Very rarely had she seen him smile, thought Holly as she opened her eyes.

The water was bright turquoise and reflected their shadows but nothing more; there was no sky for the world, for it was complete whiteness.

Like an asylum. **(A/n: Gotta love how that's the first thing that comes to mind to these people. Dx') **"Let's not dawdle, children," ordered Axel as he stepped onto the glassy water; it didn't even splash up when his foot landed on it although it still made a splashing sound.

A few steps across the water, and they were already having problems. Foxes, Arctic Wolves, and Dragons appeared in large amounts. **(A/n: Remember ze Luce types?)** "I... really hate light," growled Laurence as his Keyblade flashed into his hand. It was red and black and had crimson and orange flames. **(A/n: He gave Naminé back the charm that made up his old Keyblade in Beyond B&B.) **

"Now, now, Laur," lightly chided Holly as Diamond Sky appeared in her hand. "We have to repent and accept the light, 'member?" she asked in a surprisingly sweet voice before viciously destroying a Fox.

Rubbing the back of his head, Quince murmured, "I think you have some long-term issues that even therapy won't settle."

With a wink, Holly remarked, "Hell... does crazy things to you."

**XxxxxX **

**-End of the World-**

"I forgot how much I hate these Heartless," growled Sora as he lashed out at a nearby Invisible.

"Yeah, a few years will do that to you," agreed Riku as he blocked a rampaging Darkball from lunging at him. "Man, these things are fucking annoying."

"We haven't even made it halfway through the Gate to the Dark," groaned Roxas as he leapt up with Oathkeeper and Oblivion at an Angel Star. Not for the first time, Elie found herself wondering why he could wield two Keyblades as an Invisible's sword knocked her a few feet further into the sea of darkness.

As she touched down on the water that did not soak her in the least, another Heartless appeared. This Heartless was one of the largest she'd ever seen, blue in color, had two curved black horns with a pointy gray horn between them. A strike of blue lightning rained down directly in front of her boot. At the same time, she was pulled back by a set of strong arms.

Elie glanced back and saw that Sora had just rescued her from the Heartless. "Arch Behemoths, I certainly haven't missed those." **(A/n: Damn, I almost always call them 'Arach' Behemoths on accident. Dx) **At the same time, another Heartless, slightly larger than the blue one, appeared. This one was also a Behemoth, only it was blue.

"Behemoths, gotta love 'em," muttered Elie before she and Sora dove apart in order to avoid more lightning strikes.

**XxxxxX **

**-Radiant Cemetery: Kingdom Hearts-**

"What... are you talking about? How am I anything like you?" demanded Stefa as her heart beat quickened. Shackles made of darkness had her wrists and ankles bound, leaving her at the mercy of Farkas and Kaeli. If she could keep them monologuing, then maybe she could stop them from hurting her.

Kaeli's smile became slightly less cold. "I am a Luce."

"_What_?!" exclaimed Stefa much louder than she had planned. The icy-haired girl's expression did not change.

"Yes, a Luce made into human form; it's happened plenty of times. Usually, it's much more... difficult... to get a human Luce to work for you. But I'm not like the average human Luces," remarked Kaeli with bitterness.

Farkas was suddenly no longer beside Stefa and in Kaeli's face in a second's notice. "Watch. Your. Words, Kaeli." His tone was not amused as it usually was when he spoke. It was livid and painted pictures of wolves tearing apart a full-grown Elephant.

Kaeli's skin, already pale from her earlier encounter, paled further. Stefa could tell that she wanted the wolf Nobody to back off, that she didn't want to be part of what conspiracy he was in, but that she had no choice. "Move away from me, Farkas," her voice, despite the fact that it was shaking, sounded dangerous. When he did not do as she asked, she continued, "I will _make _you move. Now, _get out of my face._"

For whatever reason, as much as Kaeli feared Farkas, he seemed to fear her an equal amount. Muttering bitterly to himself, the Nobody returned to Stefa's side. "Now, I'm a different Luce because I, well, am a bit more... tainted. In part, the _Superior_," she spat the name like poison, "created me, but, at the same time, I was once a real person. My heart as not completely pure, and he... changed it," she hesitated and broke off. "It doesn't matter. You're an exception to the rule too, right? A complete danger to humanity, if I've heard correctly."

Laughing softly, Kaeli slowly approached Stefa. "Who would have expected either of us to be such dangers? I suppose that looks can be misleading." Stefa had never truly heard the true story of her heart's power.

"Me, a danger?" whispered Stefa with some disbelief. "There's nothing dangerous _about _me."

With a sympathetic gaze, Kaeli nodded, "It's not _you_; it's your _heart_. So many seek out your power, Stef. Your heart can cause destruction like you wouldn't--" Farkas was before Kaeli once again, this time with his hand covering her mouth while his teeth ground together.

"You're too much of a big mouth for your own good," snarled Farkas, his eyes filled with frightening anger.

**XxxxxX **

**-End of the World: Lab-**

Beads of sweat had appeared on Nalani's face and the back of her neck, causing her dark hair to stick uncomfortably to her skin. Her light brown eyes were narrowed in concentration as she examined the heart, a heart of a Keyblade wielder. As she poked and prodded with various utensils at the heart, she steadily increased the pressure she was using to bite on her lip.

As she was greeted by the irony taste of her own blood, her eyes widened, not at the pain but at _knowledge_. "Oh. Oh, God. _This _is it," she whispered quietly as she narrowed her eyes once more. "_This_ allows a Keyblade wielder able to wield a Key--"

Her words triggered yet another surprise. She stumbled away from the lab's bench as a white light engulfed her right hand. A sudden weight in her hand told her what she knew but didn't want to accept.

The hilt of the Keyblade was seafoam green, cloud-shaped, and had a black angel wing jutting out from the top. Connected to the wing was a purple amethyst acting as the keychain. A golden ring separated the hilt and the body. The body reminded Nalani of Jewel's grove; it was light blue in color and had various clouds, a sky. There was a single lightning bolt between two of the bottom-most clouds. The teeth were made up by a seafoam green angel wing. **(A/n: I made this on a paint program. :3) **It was beautiful but the knowledge of what a Keyblade brought people made Nalani hesitant.

There was not another moment for her to be hesitant as the lab doors were thrown open and Aidan entered. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "Y-you figured it out!" shouted Aidan with more enthusiasm than Nalani thought was necessary. "Great. What was it?"

Grinning, Nalani awkwardly held the Keyblade the way she'd seen the others do. "Like I'm going to tell you."

**XxxxxX **

**-Radiant Cemetery-**

"This place is terrible," groaned Laurence after they appeared out of the portal of a fragmented world. They'd just finished defeating a horde of Luces in Port Royal, which had apparently been drowned in light some time ago. It brought back mostly memories for Quince (although he was filled with guilt at the same time) and bitter memories for Laurence. "I am... so tired of Luces."

Quince's Gameboy vibrated abruptly, and he jumped. When he answered it, Elie was smirking on the other side. "There's hardly any destroyed worlds over here, but I bet you all are having fun." The others leaned over Quince's shoulder in order to get a good look. Holly hopped on Laurence's back in order to be able to see as she was the shortest in the group.

"That place..." trailed off Holly. "It's so familiar."

Behind Elie were many large, magnificent buildings. At least, they may have once been magnificent. The windows were all shattered and the sky above them was orange and black. "Lomura Kai. Why is it just showing up now?" murmured Arach, obviously distressed.

"Your home world?" asked Elie, recognizing the name. At their nods, she continued, "Well, we're about to restore it."

"We could go back!" cheered Laurence as Holly hugged his neck tightly and kissed the back of his head. "And you, Quincey, could come with me," added Laurence in a singsong voice.

Quince paled just a little. "Uh. No thanks."

"Hey, Elie, who was it Quince cheated with anyway?" Arach's mischievous smirk had returned. He assumed he'd recognize the name, if not the girl. It wasn't an important question, just something he was curious about.

Elie scowled. "Being the worst type of person possible, he chose one of Stefa's closest friends, Kate."

Kate wasn't a girl Nalani particularly cared for, Arach recalled. She always wore slutty clothes, had numerous piercings over her body, and, as Nalani had said, a body that would be used up before the age of twenty.

"I feel like we're getting closer," murmured Quince. "Can we just get on with this?"

"Yep, may as well make up what a big asshole you've been to Nalani and Stefa by saving them. See you guys soon," promised Elie before the screen clicked off.

Quince wanted to... he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Shout, break something. He was tired of the _abuse_. But he did nothing other then walk into the next portal, leading to the final platform.

**XxxxxX **

**-Radiant Cemetery: Kingdom Hearts-**

Farkas hurled Kaeli to the side with his Falchion. Her red blood flew through the air as she hit the snowy path and moved no longer. "I wasn't aware that you actually bled, Kaeli; I expected it was all a show," his tone was amused once more, but there was no doubting the dangerous wrath overshadowing it.

If Stefa didn't do something, then Farkas would kill Kaeli. He'd already remarked numerous times that he had no problem doing it, either. Stefa struggled against her bonds. A light engulfed her body and her savior, in the form of a translucent girl, appeared. "You rang?" asked Reixka as she summoned Sakura Dawning and freed Stefa with two shots of light.

Stefa jumped to her feet with Heart's Seal in hand. Her hand briefly dug into her pocket, fished out a familiar black and white heart, and attached it to her Keyblade. In a flash of light, the reassuring feel of Shadow Heart was in her hands once again. "Let's do this!"

Reixka and Stefa bolted forward before Farkas even anticipated something was amiss. When he turned, Sakura Dawning met him directly in the face while Shadow Heart knocked him down. "If you don't fight fair, then we don't have to fight fair," huffed Reixka as she and Stefa gracefully landed on the ground.

Farkas narrowed his eyes. Apparently, he'd forgotten that Stefa had a Nobody who was more than willing to repeat the days of fighting outside of another's body. "Reixka and Stefa. Well, won't this be fun?"

**XxxxxX **

**-Radiant Cemetery-**

After entering through a pair of white doors that had reminded Axel and Quince of the pink ones in End of the World, the group appeared on the sandy beach of Destiny Islands. "Wow. It's been a while," remarked Quince, briefly closing his eyes as he recalled what had occurred the previous time he'd been there.

That's right. Sora had proposed to Kairi and Riku had proposed to Stefa. It had been an especially happy day. This was particularly true for him once Stefa had refused the proposal. Not for the first time, Quince was flooded with guilt. "We'd better be on guard," remarked Axel as he walked down the beach a bit. "Who knows when someone's going to show up?"

As if his words had been some sort of password, the fragment of Destiny's Island quaked. Keyblades appeared all around as a large white monster pushed through the center of the beach and hovered over them. It faintly resembled both Twilight Thorn and Darkside.

It had long and wild strands of crystaline hair whipping around its face. The body reflected every hue of the rainbow as the 'sun' touched down on it. Arach found himself wondering if they would need fresh goat's blood as Naminé had in the Land of Dragons. The eyes looked like they were made up out of bright yellow citrine.

"I guess we won't be getting out of here as quickly as I hoped," remarked Quince before sprinting at the Luce with Maybe Memories.

**XxxxxX**

**-End of the World-**

Once they restored a few of the worlds that had been destroyed by darkness, Sora's group had descended into Chernabog's still empty volcano. They ran through the empty, distorted rooms; rooms that were parts of worlds that had been irreversibly damaged by darkness. Sora forced himself into the empty room with antifreeze floors and a Heartless emblem-shaped hole on the opposite wall, proof of his very first journey.

Adrenaline assisted them in quickly defeating the Invisibles, Angel Stars, Darkballs, Shadows, and Neoshadows. Once they defeated all of the lesser Heartless, two Arch **(A/n: Almost called it 'Arach' again D;) **Behemoths appeared. "This is really making me hate the color blue," complained Elie as she climbed up the hind legs of one.

"I guess Cinahem was prepared for us," murmured Naminé as she raised Chain of Memories to block some of the falling darkness that the Arch Behemoths were summoning.

Riku jumped up and slashed a vicious combo against one of the Behemoth's horns. "He's not going to stop us. Never," he finished with a growl before the Arch Behemoth knocked him away with a blue thunder attack.

* * *

**A/n: I'll end it right tharr. Again, my memory was really faulty, so I made up stuff. I, personally, am quite happy that I decided to change my whole Luce theory. It's so fun to make up gorgeous, gemstone-related Luces. This means that people who read the Rest of My Life will definitely have to re-read this. xDD Please review. Until next chapturr, farewell. :33**


	12. XII: Birds of a feather that clever

**XII:**

Are the birds of a feather that clever?

**A/n: Once again, thanks to all of my reviewers (Lesser, K.L, Bonbon, Catharsis, Princessdarkfairy, &etc) and to all of my readers. :D Aha, I have yet to comment on Farkas' name. So, obviously, there's a reason I would pick such an... odd name. It's Hungarian, like me! xD Anyway, his name has a meaning and it is quite important to whom he is.**

**Yus, Nalani can officially wield a Keyblade. I may or may not reveal the answer. In fact, I may just leave it up to you all to decide. :3 It's an epic-looking Keyblade, trust me.  
**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just the OCs && stuff.**

_'Oh, take a gander the bigger they are the harder they fall._

_Not needy you'll see, not needy_

_And I come with open arms over trees._

_Not needy you'll see.'_

**-"Dance of the Manatee" by Fair to Midland**

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* * *

  
**

**-Radiant Cemetery: Destiny Islands-**

The large Luce took a few steps towards them. Everything its' feet touched became crystalized. "Definitely avoid the feet, then," muttered Arach before he lunged at Kaimana. **(A/n: Name of Luce.) **

"Sora and the others better not have gotten off easy," growled Laurence before he followed after Arach with Hellfire raised.

Holly quickly jumped out of the way as Kaimana approached her. She glanced back and noticed that the oversized Luce was heading for the small pool of water near the 'secret place.' When Kaimana jumped into the water, ignoring the various weapons attacking it, it stood there for a minute.

Axel raised his Chakrams and backed off a few paces as he expected the worst. Kaimana raised its long, sharp, and pointy arms, raising water along with it. As the water was raised, it was converted into a crystalized, ice-like form. Arach raised Arachnid Nightmare **(A/n: lolnameofKeybladewhut) **and attempted to hold off a piece of the crystalized water that was attempting to impale him.

He couldn't resist smiling at the thought that something was trying to impale _him_. _'I wonder how Ceron feels watching this?' _thought Arach with a chuckle. A blast of fire from Axel's Chakrams in addition to Diamond Sky destroyed the chunk of crystal.

"Now's not the right time to have a good laugh, Arach," chided Holly with a light glare before she ran at the Luce.

Kaimana raised its arms once again, thus summoning more water. This time, the water did not become crystalized and Holly's eyes widened. Quince pushed her out of the way of the high-pressured water. "You remembered!" gasped Holly with something of awe and appreciation in her eyes.

He shrugged lightly. "I try not to forget the important things. Besides, when you were my enemy, it was a very important thing to remember," added Quince with a smirk.

"Stop flirting with my sister, Quincey!" growled Laurence from nearby as he slashed another crystalized shard out of his way. "_I'm _the one that wants you!"

**XxxxxX**

**-Radiant Cemetery: Kingdom Hearts-**

Farkas was not a very good defensive fighter which was relatively disastrous for him as he was fighting two enemies at once. He easily blocked Shadow Heart with his Falchion but was knocked to the side by Sakura Dawning. "This is like taking candy from a baby," murmured Reixka as she stifled a yawn.

Snarling, Farkas picked himself back up and lunged at her. She easily blocked his weapon but was knocked to the ground as he kneed her in the stomach. Grinning sadistically, Farkas turned to look for Stefa, but he couldn't find her.

Shadow Heart made contact with the back of his neck, and he fell to the ground. "...Ooh. I guess you should've been paying attention." Farkas did not stay down for long. He quickly jumped back up and slashed out at her despite the fact that she was well out of his reach.

Amber shards that were a good five inches tall materialized as he swiped the Falchion and knocked Stefa over from the force. The shards dug themselves into her skin and tore through her clothes. A white beam of light forced Farkas to drop his Falchion to the ground and rub the back of his left hand.

As Stefa glanced to the side, she noticed that Kaeli had awoken and was glaring at Farkas so ferociously that Stefa was almost positive it would cause his brain to explode.

**XxxxxX**

**-End of the World: Lab-**

"I don't need backup to defeat you," stated Nalani as she swiped at Aidan with Perfect Killer. He blocked the Keyblade with his sword, "but I'm sure that they're already on their way."

Aidan chuckled. "Yes, such a shame that the portals link to this place no longer, hm? I suppose you'll be stuck in here for eternity!" He swept Nalani's feet from beneath her with a kick before slashing her away with his sword.

Blood flew through the air as she was knocked against the computer desk. Her vision blurred a little as he approached her, but she wasn't done for yet. With Perfect Killer raised, she cast a Graviga spell and flattened Aidan to the ground. Nalani didn't hang around to gloat as she quickly ran out of the lab. In the dark, tiled hallway, she realized that he'd been telling the truth.

There was no portal for her to escape through. A sudden burst of light, blinding at first after being in the darkness for so long, appeared and transformed into a bright, flowing portal.

Nalani didn't skip a beat as she ran into the portal, with Aidan just a few steps behind.

**XxxxxX**

**-End of the World: Door to Darkness-**

Several Behemoths and other various strong Heartless later, Sora led the way through the small pink doors at the final rest and they appeared on a familiar, snowy and dark path. Sora immediately expected to see the Door to Darkness, but there was nothing.

All that was around them was the black air and the snowy path that seemed to stretch on forever.

"... There's no way to reach them?" whispered Naminé as they ran up the path just a little.

"The door really disappeared after we sealed it the last time," gasped Kairi with utter horror.

Scowling, Elie demanded, "You mean, after you defeated Xehamnes? ... 'least, I think that was his name... Now we're _stuck _here?!"

**XxxxxX**

**-Radiant Cemetery: Destiny Islands-**

Kaimana refused to give in although it was obviously badly wounded. "I think it's almost down," commented Axel with a satisfactory grin. "Things like these Luces really remind me _why _I first chose darkness."

The Luce jumped out of the water for what must have been the fifteenth time and landed between them. Everyone backed off as crystals jetted out from the shockwave of Kaimana landing.

Again, Kaiamana raised its arms, but Quince already knew it would be a different attack. Without warning, millions of large crystal shards began to rain from the sky.

Arach, who was closest to Holly, quickly covered her protectively as the shards rained from the sky. Laurence, even taller than Arach, also covered him. Axel blasted the falling crystals with his Chakrams whilst Quince simply covered his own head.

Once the crystals that Axel hadn't managed destroy touched down, they created an intricate fence that separated everyone. Longer and sharper crystals jutted out from the ones that touched the ground, trapping Laurence, Arach, and Holly.

"Burn baby!" exclaimed Axel as he blasted the crystals from around him and quickly ran out of his fenced area. Some of the crystals around Quince had grown taller and covered him immediately like a flat roof while others grew over fifteen feet tall before angling themselves down in an effort to impale him. Axel shot another blast of fire, singeing Quince some but also freeing him in the process. **(A/n: This would be the most epic fight scene to draw.)**

"You... cannot... defeat the light...!" cried the Luce. Axel and Quince exchanged incredulous expressions. They'd never heard a larger but inhuman creature speak before. Kaimana's voice was deep and chilling.

After springing Laurence, Holly, and Arach from their uncomfortable prison, the crystals stopped re-growing. "Yes, yes we can. Let me handle this, 'kay?" asked Holly with a backward glance at her brother and close friend. Diamond Sky disappeared from her hands as her brown eyes briefly disappeared below her eyelids.

Holly pressed the sides of her hands together, making it look like she was awaiting for someone to drop something into them. Axel shot more fire at Kaimana in order to hinder it from attacking Holly. A small black speck appeared over her hands.

As the speck grew, blue flames rose from the black center. Arach blinked. "Is that a... new trick?" he mumbled to Laurence, who shrugged.

"She's been practicing it for years, but I guess she's finally gotten it to work," he replied.

When the flame grew to be about half a foot, Holly reopened her eyes and shot the dark fire at the Luce. Kaimana staggered and shook before it fell away from the beach and into the light below.

"I have to give it to you, Holl, that was _great_," stated Arach with a wide grin as he lightly punched her on the arm. Laurence grabbed them both into a large bear hug. Axel and Quince quickly joined them.

"Great job, kid," commented Axel while Quince simply nodded. Light from where Kaimana had fallen began to steadily engulf the area. Years of working for the darkness made Holly and Laurence shake a little at the sight, but Quince was ready.

He strode confidently to the edge of the beach as the light reached a blinding intensity.

**XxxxxX**

**-Radiant Cemetery: Kingdom Hearts-**

"A portal?" asked Stefa as Kaeli joined her and Reixka. The Luce nodded and smiled.

"Yes. Your friend was there, in the lab, right?"

Stefa could have kissed her, but she didn't. Nalani burst out of the light portal Kaeli had summoned and, upon spotting Stefa, ran towards her at a speed that would make an Arcanine look slow. **(A/n: Pokémon reference ftw.) **She rammed into Stefa and threw her arms around her. Perfect Killer did not go unnoticed by either of the three girls.

"You have a... Keyblade?" muttered Reixka with disbelief.

Nalani nodded proudly as she released Stefa and stared at her weapon. "Yep! The magic casting isn't as good as my staff, but..." She shrugged lamely. "What can you do?"

The portal was just about to close when Aidan, looking extremely exhausted, burst through. His eyes narrowed into a glare at Nalani but widened upon seeing Kaeli standing beside them like an old friend. "K-Kaeli, what the _hell _are you doing? They're the enemy!"

"_Cinahem_ is the enemy," replied Kaeli fiercely.

"For now, I am your enemy," another voice that Stefa recognized as Farkas' remarked. His voice was much huskier, and his golden eyes were steadily turning the crimson red color of fresh blood. "And I will kill you all."

As he spoke, another light much further down the snowy light appeared as Axel, Quince, Holly, Arach, and Laurence appeared from the Destiny Islands fragment.

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**A/n: Ugh. This was really short. I'll have to add details later. D; Here's a fun fact, Kaimana is Hawaiian and means "power of the ocean". It can also mean 'diamond.' Both are appropriate for the Luce, I think. While I was writing the fight scene with Kaimana, I was continually reminded of the third Pokémon movie, what with all of the crystals and stuff. It is, in part, where I got the idea... despite the fact I haven't watched that movie for some years. xD' **

**Next chapter is going to be relatively fun. Please review. Au revoir!**


	13. XIII:Tired of this dysfunctional routine

**XIII:**

Aren't you tired of this dysfunctional routine?

**A/n: Thanks to my having a sleep over with my best friend yesterday, I have really great ideas for Rest of My Life (this story's sequel) and Let it Bleed ('nother KH fic), so I really want to move forward with this. Again, this is prolly gonna be short, but I'll come back and add details later.**

**Once again, thanks for all of the reviews! :333  
**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts.  
**

_'I already told you that falling is easy,_

_It's getting back up that becomes the problem,_

_Becomes the problem._

_If you don't believe you can find a way out,_

_You've become the problem,_

_Become the problem.'_

**-"Falling" by Staind**

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"Look, there they are!" announced Laurence announced as he squinted at the group of figures collected near the large doors in the distance. He was unsurprised to see Quince and Arach rush forward first. "Those girls get all of the cute guys," complained Laurence to Holly, who patted his arm sympathetically.

"I know, Laur. It's alright."

Quince ran the fastest than he ever had in his life in order to keep up with Arach. They arrived at the doors of the new Kingdom Hearts within moments, but there was nothing for them to do. Inside of a barrier was Farkas, Nalani, Stefa, and Reixka. Aidan, looking the most ferocious Arach had ever seen a Nobody, was glaring at Kaeli while she watched the fight with interest.

Farkas' eyes were completely red and, as Nalani, Stefa, and Reixka watched with their weapons raised, his body changed. The long jacket was ripped apart as his body became much larger and the spinal cord shifted, giving him the appearance of an oversized, feral wolf. "Wow. So, after all this time, he really _was _a wolf."

"A real wolf, who would have thought," murmured Reixka before glancing at the other two. "We're going to need to do something else in order to keep him down for good, I think."

Nalani nodded as a small grin touched her face. "Yeah, I think I've got an idea. Ever wanted to try a limit, Stefa?" Stefa nodded immediately. She'd only done one once with Kairi quite a few years ago.

"Sure. What's the plan?" she asked as her eyes trailed past Farkas to the people outside of the barrier. "Hey, look; it's a rescue party."

"Arach!" cheered Nalani, momentarily distracted by his appearance.

"Watch it!" Quince, Reixka, and Arach shouted together as wolf Farkas lunged forward and knocked over Nalani. His breath smelled like rotting flesh and thick saliva was trailing out of his mouth.

Shadow Heart met Farkas' side and threw him to the other side of the barrier. Stefa glanced back at Nalani as she took a few steps closer to the wolf. "What should we do?"

Smiling, Nalani pushed herself off the ground and hurled Perfect Killer into the air. She caught it with her right hand and summoned the Staff of EaKaze into her left. Nalani forced her magic through both weapons. Once the weapons were both glowing a teal color, she swung the staff, summoning a slow but powerful energy wave, and hurled both weapons into the ground near Farkas where the energy instantly exploded. The ground was somewhat destroyed and Farkas was thrown into the air. Stefa ran after the energy wave attack, jumped over it at last minute, and stabbed Shadow Heart (which was glowing a black and white color) into Farkas' body as the wave hit him.

Stefa jumped away from his body and recalled Shadow Heart. Nalani came up beside her and did a one-armed hug around her neck. "We rock," decided Stefa as Farkas fell to the ground and whimpered.

Too quickly, he recovered. Darkness had visibly engulfed him, which they thought weird in the realm of light. Snarling, Farkas started forward again with darkness leaking out of his mouth. The fight would not be won too easily.

"That's one scary fucking wolf," remarked Laurence in an undertone as he, Holly, and Axel joined Quince and Arach.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "A 'fucking' wolf, Laurence?" repeated the pyromaniac with a perverted smile. Holly elbowed him in the ribcage.

"You know what he meant," she paused as she watched the three Keyblade wielders continuously beating on the wolf. "I wonder when... and how Nalani got a Keyblade. She handles it pretty well."

Arach shrugged weakly. "We'll find out soon, if they're careful," with a wide grin, he added, "Of _course _she handles the Keyblade well."

Quince raised his eyebrows at the other boy. "You did not just make a sexual innuendo out of that."

Standing a few feet away from the girls, Farkas planted a firm stance and roared in a very un-wolf-like fashion. When he opened his mouth, darkness flowed out of it in the way a dragon would breathe fire. Darkballs and Neoshadows began to appeared around the barrier. "This is getting us nowhere!" complained Stefa as she raised Shadow Heart and attempted to block the darkness.

Nalani took out a few nearby Darkballs with a graviga spell. "We need light, I guess, but..."

Kaeli, who had been ignoring everything but the fight before her, perked up. _Light_. She could do light. She was unsurprised to notice that Aidan recognized the wheels of her brain turning and gazed at her with a curious expression. For so long, she'd been with him in the World that Never Was under the Superior's watch. He had been her best friend. The two of them had been inseparable since the day Aidan had brought Kaeli to the Skyscraper.

It had driven the Superior, Farkas, and Cinahem mad, and she'd enjoyed every second of it.

Aidan was the only one that could understand how she felt, how angry and bitter she felt. She seemed to be the only one that realized Aidan had feelings and a heart despite the fact that he was a Nobody. What could possibly make a Luce, she wondered. _'Or, at least, a Luce like me.' _

Despite the light, she was empty; she had no heart. Long ago, the Superior had taken it. She hated the Superior. Hated everything he did and stood for. She hated that he willingly chose the darkness and tried to get his younger brother to do the same. Now, she knew, the Superior was angered to see his brother working with the light.

When she did the same in just a minute, she wished that she could only see the look of fury on his face. Before she could take the few steps she needed to in order to stand by the doors of light, a portal appeared within the barrier. "I will _kill _you!" The brunet standing at the barrier growled as the figure of Cinahem stepped out. The resemblance between the two was easy to recognize but, at the same time, difficult. Cinahem work an eye patch and his once handsome features had been twisted by darkness and madness.

He also happened to not be real.

The Superior, on the other hand...

Cinahem glanced back at Quince and smirked. "Little brother, I will deal with you in a second." With a glance at Farkas, he added, "Heel, boy." Snarling, Farkas stopped moving towards the girls. As the wolf hung back, Cinahem approached the girls. "Ah, Nalani, I see that you found out how to wield a Keyblade. Would you care to share the results of your research?"

With a satisfied smirk, she replied, "I wouldn't tell you if my life depended on it."

"That is such a shame," lamented Cinahem with a sigh as he began to pace about a foot or so away from them. "Because, while your lives don't depend on it, the lives of your loved ones in Jewel's Grove do."

Stefa glowered at him before rushing with Shadow Heart. "Leave Jewel's Grove alone, Cinnamon. It was your home at one point, too." Cinahem yawned as she approached him and, at the last second, grabbed her Keyblade whilst putting out a foot to trip her.

"You were always surprisingly clumsy for a gymnast, Stefa," sighed Cinahem before he raised his foot and stepped on her back. "Now, then. If the three of you act like proper young girls, then I can tell you what's about to happen. Ah, but, of course, Reixka, you are not a girl. You're nobody," he chuckled at his own joke.

"Definitely not funny," growled Nalani although she was unsure of why she was coming to the defense of a Nobody she didn't particularly care for. Maybe because she'd helped Stefa out so many times.

Cinahem raised his eyebrows at her. "I saw what you can do with your Keyblade and staff; won't you help your dearest friend? Ah, the two of you as kids were so entertaining to watch. Running around and taking out the other's enemies. I always wondered why either of you bothered.

"Then again, I always wondered why Quince bothered with the two of you, anyway," added Cinahem with a cruel, demented smile. As Nalani made to move, he remarked, "Perhaps you should stay there after all. If you agitate me too much, something along these lines could happen." He snapped and the large, russet wolf Heartless of his from the year before appeared. It kept its snout a good centimeter from Stefa's face.

"Now that we're all comfortable, I can inform you of _why _you are all such imbeciles. Jewel's Grove has many amazing properties. A world seeped in such a large amount of darkness is just the thing I need to make my Keyblade. Of course, a perfectly balanced heart," Cinahem ground his boot into Stefa's back a little, "would also help."

"What kind of Keyblade could you possibly want to make with the heart of Jewel's Grove?" growled Arach. He, Quince, and Holly had been beating on the barrier to no avail. If only they had Sora.

"It is quite the wonderful Keyblade, really; I've been working on the idea since I first met Xehanort and his friends. The Keyblade will allow me to destroy the hearts of those who wield Keyblades, thus allowing me to become the only Keyblade wielder. From there, the universe would be at my mercy."

"No, not your mercy," declared Kaeli in a loud voice that caught everyone's attention. Cinahem narrowed his eyes. "_Cane's _mercy. You are not real!"

"Prove it," sneered Cinahem.

Kaeli turned away from Aidan and took the few steps she needed to in order to stand by the doors of light. She closed her eyes briefly and held out her hands before her. "What are you doing?!" demanded Aidan, but she did not respond. Behind her, she could hear a shriek of pain as Farkas sunk his teeth into, she was guessing, Stefa.

"Doors to the light of Kingdom Hearts, as a mere extension of your power, I ask of you to open and wipe out the darkness here. Extinguish the evil that has been plaguing us for so long!" cried Kaeli as she reopened her blazing amber eyes.

Before anything could happen, Farkas whined and ducked into a portal. Cinahem was still skeptical that anything would happen. The doors were flung open as a light too bright for any of them to look at escaped. "This cannot be!" roared Cinahem as the light touched his skin. "I am the real one! _I am real_!" The light dissolving his body begged to differ. Cinahem dissolved into darkness that was yanked back inside of the doors. His wolf Heartless was also destroyed, and the heart floated into the doors.

As the light began to pull back inside of the doors, Kaeli whirled around and was faced with Aidan's look of horror. Wondering what could possibly have him so terrified, she glanced down at herself and gasped.

Her body was fading away, to become one with Kingdom Hearts' light. She had expected it to happen but, at the same time, had been hoping she was was wrong. "Aidan, do right by me; help them get rid of Cane once and for all! Don't let the memory of our friendship go to waste."

"Wait, wait, wait!" cried Aidan, beside himself, "You can't go. I _need _you." Kaeli shook her head and smiled.

"Stop being a jerk already and help them. Don't let Cane's influence overtake who you are any longer. Goodbye." Her body faded away completely and the doors disappeared.

**XxxxxX**

**-End of the World-**

Riku was sitting on the too-familiar snowy path while hitting it repeatedly with Way to Dawn. There was no way to get back anywhere; they were trapped. God only knew what was happening with the others about now.

"Light!" Kairi's sudden cry forced Riku to pick up his head and look. A bright light was emitting from the other end of the path, and it seemed to be slowly approaching them.

Sora jumped to his feet after his fiancé. It was just as it had been when he and King Mickey had first sealed the door to darkness. Light was approaching them and would, more likely than not, transport them somewhere else. "Let's go," remarked Roxas as he stood and pulled Naminé up with them.

The group of them ran towards the light as it began to engulf the path.

**XxxxxX**

**-Radiant Cemetery: Door to Light-**

Quince and Axel pulled Stefa off of the ground as the doors closed while Arach, Laurence, and Holly ran towards Nalani. "You were wonderful," murmured Arach as he planted a brief kiss on his girlfriend's cheek.

"We should seal the doors," remarked Stefa as she nodded at Axel and even Quince in thanks. "Nalani, do you care to do the honors?"

Nodding, Nalani was gently steered towards the doors by Arach. She raised Perfect Killer as a bright light emitted from the tip and pointed it at the door. The light pierced the center of the doors and sealed them with a satisfactory click. When the door disappeared in a flash of light, her mouth dropped open.

Standing on the other side was Sora, Kairi, Elie, Riku, Roxas, and Naminé. "It's about time you showed up," stated Holly with an exasperated sigh. "We had to do everything without you."

"Everything?" demanded Stefa with knitted eyebrows as she, Quince, and Axel joined the others. "Last I checked, it was Nalani, Rei, and I who were kicking some serious ass. You just sat outside of the barrier and watched."

"What did we miss?" asked Sora with a small, relieved grin. Riku strode forward and pulled Stefa into a strong hug.

"Farkas can transform into a wolf, Cinahem was a fake, and the leader responsible for drowning worlds in light is named Cane," answered Nalani with feigned boredom. "Apparently, this Cane also wants the heart of Jewel's Grove -- among the other hearts of worlds he's been destroying -- in order to create a Keyblade that would destroy every Keyblade wielder. That's not possible... right?" she added with some nervousness.

"But of course it is," another voice stated from behind them. Stefa turned herself around in Riku's embrace as did the others. Appearing just as Cinahem, only with a web-like scar over his dark left eye, was another man. He didn't need to introduce himself as it was quite obvious as to whom he was.

With her Keyblade in hand, Elie stepped forward. "Dennis?"

Chuckling, Quince's brother shook his head. "That's Cane, Elie dear. My, how grown up you are. Just like my brother, I see you've switched sides. How very... disappointing. And, you two," added he to Laurence and Holly, "also switching sides? Very pathetic indeed."

Reixka's unconscious form was draped over his arm. Axel began to run towards Cane with his Chakrams raised. "Drop her, you son of a bitch," he snarled in one of the most ferocious voices Naminé had ever heard out of him.

Cane simply smiled and shook his head. "I'm afraid that I can't do that. You see, I need many, many things from the lot of you, and I know that you won't help me unless I have some leverage. Despite the fact most of you do not like her, I know that one of you needs her. Ah, make that two," he added with narrowed eyes at Aidan, who was brandishing his sword. Kaeli's words had struck home with him. "Only with her Nobody can the two-hearted princess give you a heart, Aid. Come find me and then we can talk turkey."

As he summoned a portal, Axel and Stefa ran at him, but he disappeared into it quickly. "Mother fucker," growled Arach whose grip on Nalani's arms had become painfully strong.

**XxxxxX**

**-Jewel's Grove-**

Once Cane stepped out of his portal, Reixka stirred. He dropped her to the ground in the same way a child would drop an uninteresting toy. Cane hadn't expected her to be out for long; she was way too strong-willed. It was part of the reason that he was fortunate that she was only a Nobody.

"How dare you touch me, you ass," growled Reixka as she picked herself up, summoned Sakura Dawning, and pointed it at him. He chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Your thinking that you could possibly frighten me. All you are is bait; act as such." With the snap of Cane's fingers, darkness bound her ankles and wrists.

Scowling, Reixka remarked, "Restrain me, that's fine. It only proves how frightened you are of me. Until the others come here to get me, I can promise that I'm going to make your life a living hell."

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**A/n: Alright, in order to keep this the same as last time, I just want to make a remark about 358/2 Days. Everything (pretty much, anyway) is out about Xion, who, as it turns out, is not exactly an Organization member. Ah, you'll see if you look it up because you're impatient (like me) or you'll see it when it comes out in a few months. :D That was an action-filled chapter. Kind of. Nothing way too exciting. I'm pretty sure the next few chapters will be taking place in Jewel's Grove, but we'll see. Please review! :3**


	14. XIV: Be Everything that Makes You Scared

**Chapter XIV:**

Be Everything that Makes You Scared

**A/n: Kay, so this chapter is going to be really short, I think. xD Definitely cannot remember what was originally in it. The song that I was listening to while writing made this chapter ten times more fun. :3 Definitely youtube the song... I love how it worked with the chapter! Once again, thank you all for reading and thank you in particular for reviewing. :DD**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just ze OCs.**

_'If I hear you saying something about me,_

_To the left I've got my friends and they're ready to swing,_

_To the back I've got my army, they're as big as the sea, _

_And it looks like yours is just ready to leave!_

_The spotlights will agree I am a show you've got to see.'_

**-"Run This City" by Jet Lag Gemini**

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"What do we do?" demanded Holly of Sora some time later. They were still in Radiant Cemetery, standing around until they came up with a plan. Holly recognized Sora as the leader, so she expected him to give some answers. "So?"

"We have to get to Jewel's Grove," answered Quince unnecessarily. Before she turned toward him, he knew what to expect of Stefa. _'I... should really remember to keep my mouth shut when she's pissed.' _

"Great, Quince, but how do we get there?" He was amazed that she wasn't shouting at him or beating at him. Sora had been very accurate when he'd once told Nalani that she and the rest of the Jewel's Grove residents were violent. It was action, and not words, for them.

Aidan, who had been awfully quiet, raised his hand awkwardly. A flowing vortex of purple and black appeared beside him. "You're quite the asset to have," remarked Laurence with a wide grin as he entered the portal first.

Holly rolled her eyes before following after him. Another boy for her brother to harass. "What are we going to do once we get there? How the hell are we supposed to find Cane and Reixka?" asked Elie as she also entered the portal with the others not too far behind them.

"If Reixka is anything like Stefa, which I mostly doubt, then I'm sure she'll make her presence known," replied Nalani with a small smile.

"The art of screaming is only learned once you've been kidnapped a few hundred times, Nala," grumbled Stefa who wasn't too far behind her best friend.

Quince opened his mouth to say something and Elie stepped on his foot with her steel-plated boots. "Just say no to making unnecessary responses, Quince."

"I was only going to suggest that I lead the way," growled Quince through gritted teeth in order to stop himself from yelling. His cousin's boots were amazingly heavy; he wondered how she could walk around in them. "I have the most experience out of this group in navigating to Jewel's Grove in the corridors of darkness."

"Surprise, surprise," mumbled Stefa and Nalani under their breath.

"Go ahead, Quince," said Roxas loud enough to cover Stefa and Nalani's voices.

Despite being light, the Radiant Cemetery was quite close to the End of the World. It wasn't exactly a bad thing; Jewel's Grove was located right between End of the World and the World that Never Was. "I wonder why Cane wants the heart of Jewel's Grove if he's been taking the hearts of worlds that are mostly light," remarked Sora.

Riku inclined his head. He recalled some four years or so ago when Leon and Cloud had discovered a secret report on Jewel's Grove and Stefa. The report had said that the heart of Jewel's Grove was almost complete darkness and that it was a wonder that people and Heartless could coexist within it. What was even more surprising was that most people didn't even _notice _the Heartless.

"There's just something about Jewel's Grove. You know, what with us being from there and all," answered Nalani. "It's no real surprise."

"Almost there," remarked Quince from a bit ahead of the rest of the group. As they walked, Naminé considered Jewel's Grove. It was a relatively nice world although it was often rainy; it was a lot like the World that Never Was. She wondered why Nalani had never chosen the darkness because, unlike Elie, Quince, and Stefa, she was the only one who'd ever fought against it always and never turned towards it. Unless, of course, one counted Arach, but he was a different case altogether.

Quince didn't need to make the announcement because Elie, who had been away from home for too long, shouted, "We're here!" She brushed past her cousin and exited through the portal leading to Jewel's Grove.

The clouds in Jewel's Grove were large and gray, as per usual, but the lack of crabapple blossoms alerted Stefa, Nalani, Quince, and Elie to the fact that spring had left and summer was gone. Stefa wondered how much time had passed in Jewel's Grove since time flowed differently between different worlds. "Should we go check the keyhole?" Kairi asked no one in particular as she appeared out of the portal and on the asphalt bike path behind Stefa's house.

Sora nodded. "I'm sure it's worth checking."

"Although I doubt that even Cane slash Cina slash Dennis is stupid enough to sit at the curb with Reixka where plenty of people can see them," remarked Stefa with a small shrug.

Quince snorted, "Like he cares. He knows full well that no one will try to stop him."

"Yeah, most people here are kind of duck-your-head-cross-your-arms types," agreed Elie as they began to walk down the bike path.

"Sora, is it possible for their to be more than one keyhole?" asked Holly curiously as they turned left onto a sidewalk.

The brunet nodded. "Well, I guess. I mean, the King once showed me a book about world keyholes, and it's possible, but pretty rare."

"Jewel's Grove seems to have some pretty rare characteristics," noted Roxas as he glanced at his fiery-haired best friend to the right. Axel was silently seething about the whole situation.

Arach murmured, "Jewel's Grove is also pretty fucking big. We're going to have to do quite a bit of searching."

**XxxxxX**

Reixka upheld her promise to cause Cane nothing but headaches until the others arrived. She had started off by singing, "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves. Everybody's nerves. Everybody's nerves! I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes." She repeated it around ten times before Cane threatened to push her into the large pool of water behind her.

The clearing where he had brought them was quite scenic. A waterfall jutted out from a rock wall and filled a surprisingly large pool of water below. As a younger boy, Maleficent had showed him this place and told him that the "direct route to the world" was located somewhere around there.

It made sense to Cane as the area seemed to be located in the middle of a forest although the main road could still be heard. Jewel's Grove was a perfectly balanced world; it had its beauty (in nature) and its ugliness (the smog and the rain that clung to the world like a blanket).

"Shoot me in the head, in the head. 2, 3, 4. Shoot me in the head, in the head! 2, 3, 4. Shoot--!" Reixka was cut short by Cane's snarl.

"I may very well take you up on that offer if you don't _shut _your fucking mouth. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you're Stefa's Nobody; that girl does everything in her power to be annoying."

Reixka stuck out her tongue although Cane guessed she would have done a different gesture if her wrists weren't bound behind her back. "I am also an individual person who has learned the art of being ten times more annoying than her," she remarked with a grin. "Now, if you just let me go..."

"You won't know where to find them, anyway. They also would have no clue where to find us. Fortunately, I left a little hint behind for them."

The Nobody rolled her eyes. "Knowing those thick heads, they probably won't recognize what it is, so good luck with that."

Cane had to fight the urge not to kill her. Not that it mattered, of course. Reixka could be either alive or dead for the plan to work out.

For the future, however, Stefa needed to be a whole person.

**XxxxxX**

When they stopped at the familiar oak tree with the mysterious painted heart, they realized that the keyhole was still sealed. "Well, it was worth a shot. Now, where the hell could Cane possibly be hiding?" murmured Quince as he ran his hand through his hair in an agitated motion.

"Well, Jewel's Grove has quite a bit of forests, enough secluded lakes, and a few large, major cities. I would say that we'll be fortunate to find them within a few years," remarked Nalani with a frown. It was hard for her to believe that they'd been standing in almost the exact same spot just a year ago. And, once again, they were having problems with Cane/Cina/Dennis.

"You know what would have made this a million times easier?" asked Stefa rhetorically. "Giving Reixka a compact communicator."

"Who would've thought there would be a need?" remarked Roxas before tapping Oblivion impatiently against the sidewalk. "If there's another keyhole, it would probably be somewhere important. Where do you think that is?"

Quince, Nalani, Elie, and Stefa exchanged a brief glance. "Once again, Wood Chip mountain it is," declared Nalani. "We should probably take a car."

"I only have one, and it's not that big," remarked Stefa although she considered a second thought. "Well, actually..."

**XxxxxX**

The sun was making a valiant attempt to shine through the clouds, but it was failing miserably. Barely visible red sunlight touched down on some of the tree branches, alerting the group to how late it was. Stefa allowed Nalani to drive her baby, her yellow Volkswagen Beetle as she was the only one she trusted not to crash. On the other hand, she took her uncle's old Chevy Cobalt which, much to her surprise, worked many, many years later.

Also to Stefa's surprise was that she still remembered how to drive. Riku climbed into the passenger seat leaving Aidan, Sora, Kairi, Naminé, and Roxas to squish into the back. "I wonder how Nalani's ride was?" remarked Stefa as she pulled the car into one of the parking spots at the park. Once they all climbed out, a harassed-looking Nalani pulled up next to her. Arach and Nalani all but jumped out of the car as Axel, with Laurence close behind, climbed out.

"Come on, Axey, why don't you just think about it?" whined Laurence as he caught up with the pyromaniac.

Holly, Elie, and Quince appeared to be fighting back laughter. "You sound like Demyx when you add the 'y' to everyone's names as a nickname," murmured Elie in fond remembrance.

"For one, the nickname 'Axey' doesn't come close to working. Two, I have a girlfriend. You might have forgotten already, but she's the one with the braid that happens to be kidnapped at the moment," an irritable Axel snapped.

Stefa's eyebrows shot up as Nalani and Arach approached her. "Thank God the ride isn't that long. I was about ready to sit in the middle of an intersection and wait for another car to smash into the back so maybe Laurence would shut up. He's _almost _a bigger man whore than Quince. Almost."

"I resent that," growled Quince.

"Why would you resent the truth?" asked Holly with her eyebrows raised. She smirked when Quince turned towards her.

Nalani waved off Quince before he could start an argument. "There's no point in all of us going to Wood Chip mountain. In fact, it might just be for the best if those of us who know how to navigate it go," she stated. "Arach, Stefa, Quince, Elie, and I will go check things out. The rest of you can go into the park and have a look around? I doubt that Cane would be hiding in there, but I seem to remember him enjoying scaring children, so you never know."

"As I recall, he used to try to lure you and Stefa to his car with candy. Creepy," remarked Elie as she started for the 'mountains' in the distance. "Enjoy your time with Laurence and Axel!" She added as Laurence continued to hit on Axel. **(A/n: This revised version of the story did not work out for the better for Laurence... xD' He officially hits on any dude that moves.) **

Quince and Elie walked side by side beside Stefa, Nalani, and Arach. Their pace was fairly quick unlike most of their visits to Wood Chip Mountain. As they disappeared in the long grass and weeds between the pond and the baseball field's fence, Heartless began to appear. Most of them were Shadows and Creeper Plants which were easy enough to deal with. Their presence all but shouted that Cane was close by. He had to be.

Once they were past the shrubbery and in the large lot where Wood Chip Mountain was located, Wolf Heartless began to appear. "This is giving me a 'hot idea', as our old algebra teacher would say, that Cane can't be too far off," remarked Nalani as Keyblades appeared all around. She blocked the lunge of a Wolf Heartless and glanced back at Arach, Elie, and Quince. "Can the three of you handle these guys while Stef and I make a getaway?"

Arach nodded. "Of course I can. How can you expect anything less out of me?"

Shaking her head and smiling, Nalani grabbed Stefa's arm and they ran past the Heartless as they continued to appear. "Reixka! Come out, come out wherever you are!" shouted Stefa as they weaved through piles of other materials for the park. "Or keyhole. The keyhole can appear at any second that it wants to," murmured Stefa as they began to climb the steep pile of wood chips.

At the top of Wood Chip Mountain, they noticed that the others were fighting off even more Wolves than before. "We'd better hurry," decided Nalani as Elie narrowly escaped from one of the Heartless.

"I guess it's not here. If not here, then where?" groaned Stefa as she looked around the lot. Nothing else struck her as particularly important.

"And I thought the two of you were smart. Apparently, I was wrong," Cane's voice said from behind them. Nalani and Stefa whirled around to find themselves faced with a silhouette of Cane. "Boo." The strange, machine-like Keyblade appeared in his hands. Without uttering any words, Cane slashed his Keyblade down and an explosion escaped from the tip and scattered Wood Chip Mountain.

Stefa and Nalani were hurled off of the pile along with a few hundred wood chips and fell onto the gravelly ground below. Wood chips and pieces of glass had managed to cut them on their way down. "If you can defeat me, a mere copy, then I will tell you where to find them. However, if you're too slow, then I'll sic my Heartless on you."

Another pack of Wolves appeared around them, forming a circle that prevented them from escaping. "Well, this is... awkward. Obviously Cane has too much time on his hands if he keeps sending decoys. Either that or he's unsure of his fighting skills," mentioned Stefa as she forced herself to stand.

"The latter wouldn't surprise me at all," agreed Nalani as she also got to her feet. "If we can beat the original's ass, then we can take care of his clones no problem."

**XxxxxX**

Reixka wasn't quite sure how he did it but, with the assistance of his machine Keyblade, Cane was watching Nalani and Stefa fight a clone of his on a projection. Somehow, she doubted that his Keyblade existed naturally. Being a "child prodigy," he must have created it himself. Although she had no clue as to how he was controlling the decoy, she knew that knocking into him would disrupt it.

She forced herself off of the rocky siding of the pool that she'd been sitting on and staggered to her feet. Cane didn't notice, and he was standing with his back to her just a couple of feet away. With a bit of momentum, she had no doubt that she could at least tackle him.

As soon as she was able to get a relative amount of balance, she lunged her body forward and hit him hard enough to knock him over. "Oh, sorry, Cinnamon; I got really bored."

**XxxxxX**

The decoy of Cane flickered and faded after sending another explosion at Stefa and Nalani which destroyed the ground once again. He hadn't had the opportunity to really attack them. In fact, all he'd succeeded in doing was getting them covered in gravel and sand from the constant explosions at the ground.

Once the fake was gone, the Wolves lunged at Stefa and Nalani. With Thundaga spells of their own along with about ten additional ones, the Heartless were felled long before they reached their targets. "As fortunate as it is that he's gone, we just have one problem," recognized Nalani as Sora, Kairi, Riku, Holly, Naminé, Roxas, Arach, Quince, and Elie joined them.

"What's that?" asked Sora with knitted eyebrows.

Kicking up more sand and gravel with Shadow Heart, Stefa replied, "The decoy was supposed to tell us where Cane and Reixka are."

"Shit," more than one person breathed. "Wait, wait. Hold on a second," ordered Kairi as her indigo eyes focused on something in the distance. The others' eyes followed the trail of her own and stopped on a russet Wolf. With a knowing grin at the others, she said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Someone's going to lead us to where we need to go," agreed Riku before approaching the Heartless who was whining and backing away.

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**A/n: That turned out to be more fun than I expected. Definitely had a little bit of fun with the decoy. :33 Alright, so, next chapter should be the beginning of the end, I'm thinking. Or maybe not. Ah, we'll see. xD' Please review! -heart-**


	15. If You're Not Trembling, You Better Be

**XV:**

**If You're Not Trembling, You'd Better Be**

**A/n: Aha, last chapter was really fun to write. Why? All of the comic relief. Definitely part of the reason why I'm glad I'm rewriting this. :33 Things from here on out are going to be very serious. I actually have the original of the next chapter, so I imagine I only have to do a few revisions. I'll probably put it up right after this one. :D! Two more chapters until this story is complete.**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

_'I've had enough of your games._

_If you're not trembling, you'd better be_

_'Cause we're gonna be the end of you._

_I've had enough of your games._

_I'm gonna show them who you really are_

_And I can tell you right now, it won't be pretty.'_

**-"Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" by This Providence**

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"How can you be sure that we're following it?" asked Holly some time later when they were all riding on Elie's dragon, Elie. Ladon was relatively high in the sky, but Elie was somehow keeping track of the Wolf Heartless that Riku had threatened.

Elie glanced back at her and shrugged meekly. "I can spot a Heartless from miles away nowadays. That's what happens when you stay in the darkness for so long."

Holly waved her arms. "If you're referring to the days when you used to help Maleficent, then try not to forget that we," she gestured to herself, Laurence, Quince, and Arach, "were there, too."

"Then I guess that I'm just better at following Heartless than you are. _That's _what happens when you work as a double-agent," remarked Elie with a large grin.

"Aside from that," Sora, acting as a moderator, began, "there are Heartless all over the place heading in the same direction." With a quick glance downward, they realized that he was right. Millions of black specks were moving together everywhere to the same place.

With a sly smile, Quince murmured, "Let's see the Jewel's Grove residents wave off _those_."

**XxxxxX**

Numerous cuts and even burns had been inflicted on Reixka, but she was smiling. "Wow, you'd beat up on someone who can't even defend themselves? That's pretty low, even for you."

Cane, who had snapped after the connection with his decoy had been severed, narrowed his eyes. "You are absolutely insufferable company."

"And you're an absolute mental case," chirped Reixka in return. Again, Cane looked like he would last out at the Nobody once more, but he exercised some self-restraint. Reixka continued to smile because she knew it would just piss him off. "Did I mention that you have a face even a mother can't love?" A beam of darkness escaped the tip of Cane's Keyblade and shot at Reixka's feet. "Now, now, now. That's not very nice, is it?" Reixka immediately brightened up at the voice. Cane turned just in time to find a pair of Chakrams in front of his face.

"What kind of sick son of a bitch attacks someone while they're restrained?" remarked Holly as she summoned Diamond Sky into her hands. "Someone really ought to teach you manners."

Elie shoved her dragon whistle into her jeans' pocket before cracking her knuckles. "Too bad, Dennis. Maybe if you hadn't been so quick to kill Aunt Millie, then you wouldn't be such an ill-mannered jerkoff."

Kairi and Naminé concentrated their light and shot it at the bounds restraining Reixka. Once she was freed, she responded to the time she'd spent with Cane by summoning Sakura Dawning, sweeping his feet from beneath him, and skipping to stand beside the others.

"I was quite concerned that you wouldn't make it," murmured Cane as he pushed himself of off the ground. The strange eyepiece that he always seemed to be wearing was glowing somewhat.

"Well, since we'd hate to disappoint you, we did everything we could to get here," remarked Roxas sarcastically as he brandished Oblivion and Oathkeeper threateningly. "It's time to end this."

"End this?" laughed Cane. "This has only just begun!"

A sudden realization dawned on Kairi. "Weren't about a million Heartless on their way here?" As if her words had been their cue, too many Heartless to count appeared around them. All of them were Pureblood Heartless and Shadows and Neoshadows seemed to make up the bulk.

Cane disappeared and reappeared in a tree nearby. "Ah, yes. Let us see you all get out of this one." Kairi and Naminé took each other's hands once more and closed their eyes while everyone else rushed forward with their weapons.

A Neoshadow close to Stefa swatted at her keychain at which point she recalled something. As she paused to take off the keychain, Nalani, Riku, and Holly covered her. Shadow Heart gave way to Dark Thorn as she stuffed the broken heart charm into her pocket and rushed at a nearby Darkball. Quince scowled at the appearance of the old and evil Keyblade. As a ring of Shadows circled her, Nalani cast a firaga spell that spewed out in a circle instead of a single fireball. Holly snapped briefly to herself before allowing Diamond Sky to disappear and holding her hands the way she had at the Radiant Cemetery.

Laurence and Arach guarded her as she closed her eyes and concentrated all of her power in summoning another fireball. When the fireball appeared in her hands, she gestured with her chin for her guards to move. Once the coast was clear, Holly allowed the energy to build outwards into a ring of fire. The blue and black fire burst away from her body with enough force to rustle her hair and clothes. A large amount of Heartless disappeared as many pink hearts floated upward.

"In order to get these Heartless to get the fuck out, we're going to have to get Cane," decided Arach as he turned towards the tree in which said man was perched. He held out Arachnid Nightmare and was pulled to the tree by a straight shot of his poisonous spider web. Once he touched down on the branch where Cane was perched, some of the tree's bark was eaten away by the poison. Cane quickly turned towards Arach and blocked a blow from Arachnid Nightmare. The pressure in which the two of them were exerting from exchanging blows was enough to break the tree branch and send them into the pile of Shadows below.

"Light!" cried Naminé and Kairi as they channeled the light from their hearts at a group of Heartless that was surrounding Sora and Riku.

"Enough!" roared Cane. At his words, the remainder of the Heartless disappeared, and he slunk into the center of the madness once again. "Now, then, let us talk like adults. First of all, where is the direct route to the heart of this world?" "If we knew that, we would have already made sure that you can't get to it," growled Sora as he brandished Ultima Weapon threateningly. "Why don't you tell us?"

Cane frowned. "All I know is that it is in this general area, and I do not believe that you don't know where it is." In a second, his body had disappeared into darkness only to reappear before Sora. Before the Keyblade Master had the opportunity to react, Cane slashed at him with his Keyblade. "I will banish you all to the darkness, then."

He raised his Keyblade at Arach's heart first and a beam of black light shot out from the tip. Stefa and Quince recognized the attack too well. "Duck!" They ordered the ex-dark wielder in unison.

Arach needn't have bothered to raise his Keyblade. A white light deflected Cane's black one into the sky. When everyone looked towards the forest to find the source, they found an uncertain icy-haired girl standing at the edge of the trees. "Kaeli!" Aidan, despite being a Nobody, cried before running towards her.

"Kaeli?" repeated Nalani with confusion before looking around at the others for answers. Their faces mirrored the same lack of understanding. Cane scowled at the Luce.

"What the hell are you doing back here?"

"I'm here to do my part in destroying you," replied Kaeli with a snarl. Cane simply looked amused as he slowly approached her. Aidan raised his sword and stepped in front of Kaeli.

Tipping the tip of Aidan's sword away with his Keyblade, Cane sneered, "How very touching. Two creatures that have no real hearts think that they can defeat me?" A Neoshadow that had not disappeared with the rest slid across the floor in its flattened form before knocking Aidan to the side.

Several people moved at once to hinder Cane from attacking Kaeli although they all knew that there was no way for them to reach him. Kaeli tilted her chin upwards and narrowed her eyes; she didn't flinch or blink as she glared at Cane. As Cane made a stabbing motion at Kaeli's heart in what seemed like slow motion but was actually a relatively rapid movement, a light flashed, knocking Cane away from her.

In Kaeli's hand was a Keyblade the same icy color as her hair with multiple sparkles covering it. **(A/n: Bah, laziness. It's supposed to look like Diamond Dust from Kingdom Hearts.) **She looked surprised albeit satisfied to see it in her hands. "I guess Kingdom Hearts... made me whole."

Cane snarled, but before he could make another move forward, Hellfire knocked him down and Elie placed her boot on his back. "This seems awfully familiar to me," she murmured to herself, "Oh, right. This is what you used to do me when I was little. Revenge is sweet, Dennis."

He didn't throw her off, but a Wolf that he summoned nearby lunged at her and did the work for him. "You cannot even hope to defeat me; your hearts are all so pathetically weak and light that it is a wonder to me that you can stand before me at all! Now, if you won't tell me how to get the heart of this world, then I will have to simply move on with the plan." Cane stood back up, dusted himself off, and spared not a single glance at his cousin, who had stuck her Keyblade in the Wolf's mouth in order to stop it from getting a strike at her heart.

With his machine Keyblade back in his hand, Cane confidently strolled towards Riku with it raised like a gun. He was unsurprised to see Sora, Kairi, and Stefa run forward to block him from attacking the silver-haired boy. That didn't stop him, either. He shot a beam of darkness at Kairi's feet, which she avoided thanks in part to Sora pulling her to the side. Stefa did not budge, resembling a protester who had chained themselves to a tree in order to prove a point.

"This should seem familiar to you, Princess," remarked Cane with a sadistic smile as another beam of darkness shot out of the tip of the Keyblade and entered Stefa's chest. Stefa didn't move away from Riku until Cane tugged forward, thus knocking her to the ground.

Stefa's Shadow hovered over her in an all-too-familiar way as she fell to all fours. "But I locked her heart; it's sealed!" cried Naminé with outrage and fear as the shadow knocked Stefa to the side in order to clear a path to Riku. Without discretion, Cane shot another beam of darkness at Riku.

What he pulled out was nothing like with Stefa. Two men were tugged outside of Riku's heart as he fell onto all fours beside Stefa. Both men had flowing silver hair and sour expressions. "...Well, this wasn't something I counted on," murmured Cane with mild surprise at the two men standing before him.

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**A/n: This chapter finally helped me to decide something for the sequel. What is it? Welllll, I can't tell you. :P This was pretty short, so I'll probably come back and add to it later. Yes, men just came out of Riku. FFFF---OOH. Awkward. xD' Please review! Until next chapter! (Which will likely be put up a few minutes after this one.) **


	16. XVI: Stop By this Disaster Town

**XVI: **

**Stop By This Disaster Town**

**A/n: You should totally youtube the song that I've posted for this chapter because it works great. :3! This chapter is very, very, very fun and has lots of fights. Great stuff. Thank you to all of my reviewers! :DD**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just the OCs and stuff.**

_'We're the has-beens of husbands,_

_Sharpening the knives of young wives,_

_Take two years and call me when you're better,_

_Take teardrops of mine, find yourself wetter.'_

**-"The Carpal Tunnel of Love" by Fall Out Boy**

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"I remember saying something about not wanting to see another Organization member not too long ago, and here you are, Xemnas." Sora remarked in an angry voice that he conserved only for his worst of enemies.

Xemnas turned toward the brunet with his white and black jacket billowing behind him from the sudden wind. The sky was still growing darker and darker by the minute. "How nice to see so many here for this blessed reunion," he murmured in a smug tone before facing Cane. "Cinahem, are you really so incapable of destroying these fools that you feel the need to call upon me?"

Cane's eyes narrowed into a glare. Apparently, he had only expected to be yanking Xehanort's Heartless out of Riku. "Xemnas, are you really still so full of yourself that you think I would _need_ you?"

The Superior chuckled and took a few steps towards the Keyblade wielder. "It seems that in the time we have been apart the only thing that has changed about you is your heightened sense of smugness. An undeserved sense of smugness, might I add?" He added in a light, pleasant tone.

Everyone's eyes snapped from Xemnas to Cane with each statement spoken. Stefa helped RIku up, and Xehanort's Heartless seemed to be pleased with sending a glare at absolutely everyone around him. "Why don't we pick this up a bit later, Xemnas? I have some other pressing issues at the moment." Cane said through gritted teeth before turning the Keyblade on his brother. Stefa's Shadow was hovering, waiting for her orders. "You're next, little brother."

"I'm so honored that you want to annihilate me next," Quince growled as he pointed his own Keyblade back. Elie stepped in front of him and tipped Maybe Memories out of her face.

Cane didn't seem quite sure what to make of her. "Elie, why would you want to protect this moron?"

Elie rolled her eyes. "Dennis, why do you care?" She replied, frowning. "After all, you never much cared for me. Not that you ever looked out for your brother, either. **(A/n: That originally said 'boyfriend'. XD) **In fact, you ruined some of the greatest things that he ever had." Her eyes temporarily flicked over to Stefa. "But, like you, Quince knows how to throw things away. Unlike you, he doesn't betray them by _killing_ them and sending Heartless after them."

"Except when he worked for Maleficent." Holly muttered under her breath. Once again, Elie rolled her eyes.

"She has a good point, you know. The two of you are no different than me. I worked under Maleficent and betrayed everyone I knew. Both of you worked under her and did the same." Cane remarked with a demented grin.

"But at least they redeemed themselves by helping us out." Kairi pointed out. "At least they still have consciences." Cane shot a beam of darkness at her feet, and Sora pointed Ultima at him threateningly.

"As amusing this is, I really have better things to do." Xemnas stated before walking off in the direction of the forest. Roxas and Axel stood side by side, blocking their old Superior's path. "Move, both of you." He barked, frowning.

Axel grinned and held out his Chakrams. "Last I checked, you aren't really in charge of me anymore, got it memorized?" remarked Axel with a huge grin. Xemnas rubbed his temples.

"You couldn't pay me a million munny to follow your orders," Roxas added with a curt nod.

"What say you, Xemnas, to a fight with your old underlings?" Reixka asked with a small smile as she appeared behind the Superior. A barrier formed around the four of them in response to her question.

"Oh, sure, they get to take on the most sane out of the three." Elie mumbled, causing Xehanort's Heartless and Cane to send brief glares at her.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Elie," Riku replied, grinning despite himself.

Holly shook her head. "You guys are crazy. Your lives are being threatened, and you still have time to make jokes," she whispered under her breath.

"You're the one who wanted to help us, Holly," remarked Stefa. Cane silenced them by shooting another beam of darkness. "Kairi, you and Sora definitely need to help Riku defeat Xehanort's Heartless once and for all. Use your light. It's the only way, I think."

Kairi turned towards her with a surprised expression. "And the rest of you?"

Stefa grinned. "We'll take care of Cane. I know that you and Sora can help Riku, but I can't; I don't trust these knuckle-heads against Cane, except Nalani."

"Your wish is my command, Princess," Cane stated as he held up his hands. A barrier sprung between Kairi and Stefa, separating them. "Let's be serious, now."

Stefa and Nalani exchanged a brief glance. "Hey, Cinnamon, why so serious?" Nalani asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're going first." He murmured before shooting a black beam at Nalani's heart. She easily ducked and cast a Graviga spell that smacked him into the ground. He gestured with his Keyblade at Stefa's Shadow and she ran towards Stefa.

Cane's whole strategy seemed to consist of giving their darkness form. Although he was clever, he wasn't fast, and they easily evaded his attacks. "I still say that eyepiece is one of his weak points," Arach mumbled to Quince before they jumped apart to avoid another attack. The first mistake of Cane was allowing the barrier to be so big.

"If that's true, then we'll have to get up close with him." Quince replied to Arach before rushing at his brother. "I guess we'll see." Cane smiled expectantly as Quince came at him.

Holly examined Cane's facial expression and frowned. "Quince, don't do it!" She shouted, a minute too late, as Quince jumped at his brother.

"Gotcha now, little brother." Cane all but purred as he shot another beam at his brother. It hit Quince square in the heart and knocked him back to the ground.

Promising to mentally kick herself later, Stefa rushed to his side and shook him. "Quince, are you alright?" A black shadow of Quince jumped out of his body and slashed diagonally at her, twitching like a regular Shadow Heartless. Stefa mentally kicked herself as she got back up. Black was rising from the cut that the Anti-Quince had dealt her.

"You're in denial of your own power," Holly remarked as she clashed Keyblade to Keyblade with a slightly distracted Cane.

The faintest ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "Oh, really? Enlighten me." He pushed on her Keyblade and a trickle of sweat trailed down the side of Holly's face.

"Well," she grunted, struggling to push off Cane's Keyblade, "You seem to believe that you actually _have_ power." Cane snarled something incoherent and knocked Holly to the ground. He jumped at her like an animal, but Arach and Laurence seized him from behind and threw him into a tree.

Laurence held out a hand to Holly. "You okay?" He asked in a soft tone that Nalani had never heard him use toward a girl. Instead of looking hurt or in pain, Holly grinned.

"Oh, _yeah_." She replied with more emphasis than necessary on the yeah. Laurence simply shook his head as she grabbed his hand and pulled her to her feet.

Reixka barrel rolled to the right, missing Xemnas' Aerial blade lasers by a hair. "How does it feel, Number XIV, to have your Somebody give away hearts to every Nobody but _you_?" Xemnas smoothly asked her as she barely avoided more of the lasers. Roxas and Axel were quite busy with Xemnas' clone at the moment.

"I dunno. How does it feel, Xemnas, to be given a heart of your true essence: Completely filled with weak darkness?" She retorted and managed to block the next round of lasers with Sakura Dawning.

Xemnas chuckled. "You were always funny. You acted like you had a heart more than any other Nobody I had ever seen," He paused for good measure. "Then again, you had one back then, didn't you? But what were you other than a temporary shell?"

Finally having enough of the verbal abuse, Reixka charged at the Superior with less discretion than what was advisable. A smile twitched at the corners of Xemnas' lips. Roxas knocked the Xemnas clone into a nearby tree and turned back to find Axel already heading after Reixka. "Reixka, don't--!" He warned, but it was too late. Xemnas shot out a torrent of white and black thorns that knocked the breath out of Reixka. She hit the tree beside Xemnas' clone and slid down it, unmoving. "Xemnas!" Axel roared, shooting a stream of fire at the other man.

Xemnas nimbly avoided the attack and grinned at Axel. He held out his hands with a ball of blue magic between them and shot it at Axel. "Axel, can you spare a heart...?" There was a line of electricity connecting the two spheres, and Axel shouted.

Roxas quickly turned from Reixka back to the main fight. "Axel!" He ran forward, but the clone swiftly knocked him off his feet with the Aerial Blades. "Outta my way!" Roxas shouted, knocking the clone off to the left before heading back for Xemnas. The clone was already back up, and it began to glide toward Axel.

Until Sakura Dawning knocked him away. Roxas glanced back at Reixka, who was grasping her right shoulder, but smiling. "Help him, please. I can take care of the clone." The honeycomb blond smiled briefly and nodded curtly before heading back towards Axel.

Reixka recalled Sakura Dawning to her hand as the clone got back and threw it back at him, knocking him away from Roxas a bit more. "We're going to have some fun, you son of a bitch." She declared before recalling her Keyblade once more and running at the clone.

Kairi, Naminé Sora, Riku, Aidan, and Kaeli were the most fortunate out of the trio for their fight wasn't inside of a barrier. Thus far, the plan was to: 1) Not let Riku give in to Xehanort's Heartless, and 2) Nail Xehanort's Heartless with so much light that he would explode. Kaeli joined hands with Kairi and both girls closed their eyes. Aidan stood in front of them with his sword held at the ready while Sora and Riku slashed the shit out of Xehanort's Heartless.

The Guardian Heartless flashed away from his Master's back and appeared in front of him with his arms held out. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate this thing?" Sora muttered as he slashed at Xehanort's Heartless, only to be blocked by the Guardian.

Riku chuckled quietly. "Yeah, I think you mentioned it last time we fought him at Kingdom Hearts."

Sora nodded briefly. "Good." The Guardian Heartless reappeared behind Xehanort's Heartless' back and remained docile for a minute. As Sora went in to attack Xehanort's Heartless **(A/n: I really just want to say Ansem. D: )**, the Guardian swiped at him with his claws, knocking Sora back a little. Darkness from the cut rose from Sora's shoulder, but he simply went back to slashing at the main Heartless.

After a while, the Guardian disappeared entirely, giving Sora and Riku the perfect opening to take down more of Xehanort's Heartless' health. Then, Xehanort's Heartless created a barrier around him that was strong enough to knock Sora and Riku in opposite directions.

Aidan switched his sword to an offensive position as Xehanort's Heartless, still floating in his barrier, headed toward them. He glanced back at the two girls: They were channeling their energy still. "Very brave of you, boy, but how are you going to stop me?"

"By stabbing this sword into your body." Aidan replied cooly. Xehanort's Heartless chuckled and continued to near the three of them. Aidan glared at the Heartless and moved his sword wielding arm, but he couldn't have even twitched it. For some reason, he was frozen. "What...?" muttered Aidan, surprised that his mouth still worked.

The Guardian Heartless appeared over his back and grabbed him by the shoulders; that made more sense. "My loyal guardian will not allow you to move. What a shame. Now, move aside, boy." Xehanort's Heartless pulled out his own weapon, a double bladed Soul Eater pole, and whacked Aidan to the side. He raised it over his head, handling it with two hands, and stabbed it down at the two girls.

Kaeli and Kairi opened their eyes just in time. They jumped apart and the pole stabbed into the ground where their hands had been joined. Kairi summoned Radiant Destiny **(A/n: Her actual Keyblade. I stole this name from KH wiki because I just can't find what I named it originally...)** and Kaeli's appeared in her hand. "Nice try," Kairi mumbled, pointing the Keyblade at the Heartless. As she did this, she realized just how much she was shaking.

"That's right, you have a Keyblade now, too, but didn't Riku give it to you?" Xehanort's Heartless asked, a cruel smile appearing on his face as Kairi faltered. "That means that you didn't acquire it because of your heart's strength. Being completely light, your heart is _weak_!"

"That's not true! Kairi, don't listen to him!" Kaeli commanded, pointing Forever Winter at the Heartless, too. "Light is power--more powerful than darkness in some ways!"

Xehanort's Heartless swung around to face her. "You are... something close to a Princess of Heart, aren't you? You reek of light," He added at Kaeli's perplexed expression. "Obviously, you're the stronger out of the two which means... your first!" He rushed at Kaeli with an amazing amount of speed, and she closed her eyes. The Heartless' shout made her reopen her eyes.

Aidan was almost doubled over before her, panting, but he looked satisfied. The Guardian reappeared behind Xehanort's Heartless, who appeared to be a little bit wounded. "Kaeli, come on, we almost have all of the energy we need!" Kairi called to the blue-haired girl, who seemed hesitant in leaving Aidan's side.

"Are you alright?" He asked before she had the chance. She nodded but, realizing that he couldn't see her, she verbalized a yes. "Good. Then, don't you have a job to do?" Aidan added, smirking. Smiling, Kaeli fled to Kairi's side where the two continued to channel their light.

"You can fight me all you want, but I will never die." Cane announced to the group inside of his barrier.

"You still bleed, don't you? We're not leaving until you're ten feet underground." Nalani replied, narrowing her eyes.

Cane chuckled. "What makes you think that you can defeat me?"

"Probably the fact that you like to monologue." Stefa replied from behind him before stabbing Dark Thorn into his shoulder. Arach mirrored her movements to the left with his own Keyblade.

Nalani stuck out her tongue at Cane as he was knocked onto all fours. "For once, why don't you give up so we can just send you to jail rather than kill you?" Laurence asked as he walked over to Cane. Cane lifted up his Keyblade, shot the beam at Laurence, and ran away, giggling madly. **(A/n: Wow, that was unnecessary. xD)**

Unlike Quince's shadow, Laurence's was huge. It was tall and it actually looked like the thing had muscles. "Laur, you should really consider dumbing down the darkness in your heart." Holly remarked as her brother tumbled back, surprised.

Anti-Laurence growled at them like a wild beast. "Laurence angry! Laurence smash!" The shadow pounded his fist into the ground, causing a crater to form. The whole group didn't seem to know whether they should laugh or be very frightened.

"Laurence is _my_ name," The regular Laurence whined, rolling to the side when his shadow hurled a tree at him. "That's not normal."

"What is anymore?" Arach mumbled before turning to Nalani. "Nalani, these shadows are just distractions. Use your magic on that eyepiece." Nalani nodded; her magic felt abruptly restored.

"Stefa," She called, raising her Keyblade. The dirty blonde turned around and grinned.

"Got it." She replied as Nalani threw Perfect Killer into the air, caught it with her right hand, and summoned the Staff of EaKaze into her left hand. The mage Keyblade wielder forced her magic through both weapons. Once both items were glowing a teal color, she hurled them into the ground near Cane where the energy exploded, destroying the ground, and knocking Cane into the forest. Stefa, running as fast as she was able, followed the energy wave, jumped over it at the last minute, and stabbed the black and white glowing Keyblade into Cane's body as the wave hit him.

Stefa jumped away from his body and recalled Dark Thorn. Nalani came up beside her and the two pounded their fists. "Much cooler than Eternal Session?" The Princess asked her best friend.

Nalani nodded. "Much cooler than Eternal Session." She agreed. The two were torn away from their conversation by Cane's painstakingly loud scream. They looked at him with their weapons held at the ready.

It was hard to tell with Cane doubled-over, covering his left eye, but it looked like the eyepiece had stopped glowing. The barrier surrounding them crackled and broke. Judging by the shouts behind them, the others still weren't finished with the shadows. "You still think that you have won, don't you?" Cane mumbled as he tore his hands away from his eye and stood up. Nalani and Stefa took a few steps away from him. The eye that had been previously covered by the eyepiece was a sickly purple and black color, like darkness. A huge scar spider webbed around the eye. "It has only just started!" Darkness seemed to jet out from his wounded eye and engulfed Stefa and Nalani. Arach blinked as he came to meet them, but the three of them had disappeared.

Roxas jumped at Xemnas and grabbed one of the hands channeling the energy sphere sucking away Axel's life. Then, he grabbed the other, ignoring the pain that it caused him. Axel fell to the ground behind him while Roxas knocked Xemnas sideways with one Keyblade, then back with the other, and finally into the air with both.

The clone flickered and faded and Reixka joined Axel and Roxas. "Axel, you okay?" She asked with more concern than what she thought was possible.

Axel grinned. "It'll take more than an old Nobody to do me in, Rei." He replied as he stood back up. Xemnas hit the ground behind Roxas.

"Alright, Xemnas, give it up." Roxas barked at the Superior as the barrier around them faded. Xemnas was breathing heavily, but he still shook his head.

"I won't give up until the three of you are permanently wiped from existence!" He fell to the ground again, and Elie blew off the tip of her Keyblade behind him.

"Technically, you can only wipe away one. Go on, guys. Take care of him." She leaned back against a tree and crossed her arms as her Keyblade disappeared.

"Amen to that." Reixka agreed before the three of them began to slash and (in Axel's case) burn Xemnas until he finally jumped away from them.

Axel caught his Chakrams as they returned to him in a boomerang-like fashion. "It must be pretty hard to do all of the stuff you're doing without Kingdom Hearts' power, huh, Xemnas?" Xemnas only smiled, and Axel glanced back at Roxas and Reixka. "Leave him to me, guys." He put his two Chakrams together and a large pillar of fire exploded beneath Xemnas, who laughed as he burned and fell back to the ground.

He was fading before he was close to hitting the ground. The three ex-Organization members hovered over their old Superior. "As Cinahem said, this is not the end. In fact, this is just the beginning. I'll see you all in hell, won't I?" Xemnas asked, smiling, as he disappeared.

Reixka, Roxas, and Axel exchanged glances. "...Is that really it? He's gone soft." The only Nobody left in the group remarked.

Roxas shook his head as Oblivion and Two Across disappeared. "Somehow, I doubt he's gone. Let's go see if we can help the others."

With their hands still joined, Kairi and Kaeli finally stood up and faced Xehanort's Heartless. Riku caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye and signaled for Sora and Aidan to move away from the Heartless. "You're finally through, Anse--I mean, Xehanort's Heartless!" Kairi amended before closing her eyes. Kaeli's voice joined her own, "Light!"

A bright, white light shot from their hands and engulfed Xehanort's Heartless. The Guardian Heartless instantly disappeared, and Xehanort's Heartless cried out and shielded his eyes. It was just like the light that had once thwarted him, but this light was even purer somehow. "I will always come back! There's no stopping me!"

"That's where you're wrong," Riku replied, taking a few steps closer to the man that had ruined his life. "This you here is only a small fragment of what you once were. Kingdom Hearts destroyed you for the most part, and I thought I destroyed the rest of you in Castle Oblivion, but I guess I was wrong. This time, you're finished."

"It's over, Anse--Xehanort's Heartless." Sora added as Ultima disappeared.

Xehanort's Heartless faced the light with a glare. "That may be true; I may be finished, but I can't say that's the same for the others." The light finally pierced through his being and Xehanort's Heartless disappeared once and for all. Kairi and Kaeli fell to their knees.

"I understand that you all must be so psyched about defeating your archenemies, but we have a big problem." Holly announced, approaching Riku as Sora and AIdan had already joined Sora and Kairi.

Reixka groaned as she, Axel, and Roxas came up behind them. "Cane, where is he?"

Holly half-smiled. "That's the problem..."

**XxxxxX**

Nalani pushed herself off of the ground and she tried to gather her bearings. "Where am I?" She wondered aloud as her feet slid against the sandy floor. Why was it that every time she fought Cina, she was brought somewhere different half-way through the fight?

"Nalani, what happened?" Stefa chirped beside her as she also stood up. The sky was purple all around them.

"Welcome, my subjects," Cane's voice rumbled before Nalani could answer Stefa. "Welcome to my future Kingdom. Before you get comfortable, though, I'll have to kill you."

* * *

**A/n: **6.12.09: **I never explained the appearance of Xemnas and Xehanort's Heartless in the chapter, so I will now. After they defeated Xehamnes at Kingdom Hearts in... A Nobody's War... Xehamnes never truly disappeared; he was taken back inside of Riku. When Cane used his Keyblade to pull out (what he thought was only Xehanort's Heartless) Xehamnes, the two were automatically separated. Just didn't want anyone to be confused. :3**

Old note: **Wow, this chapter took longer than what it should have. Next chapter will be the last, but it's probably gonna be kinda lengthy. Boy, do I have something in store for you guys! xD Anyway, please review, and I will see you guys in the last chapter. :3**


	17. XVII: Just Wake Me When it's Over

**XVII:**

Just Wake Me When it's Over

**A/n: The song that I listened to while writing the majority of this chapter was great. :3 It works perfectly and whatnot. For the last break at Jewel's Grove, though, I'd have to ask you guys to switch over to "Still Around" by 3OH!3. It works great for the end.**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts, kay?**

_'So let go_

_And then jump in._

_And oh well, what you waiting for?_

_And it's alright_

_Because there's beauty in the breakdown.'_

**-"Let Go" by A Static Lullaby**

**

* * *

  
**

Twilight was still hanging in the sky of Jewel's Grove as everyone relocated to the pool. "Leave. It. To. Them," growled Quince as he paced near the waterfall in the clearing. "They're really good at getting captured, as of late."

"Your mom was good at--," began Elie before breaking herself off abruptly. "Right, this is serious. Sorry." Her hands were jittery like she'd had too many cups of coffee, and she'd been destroying the ground with her Keyblade.

Reixka shook her head. "They can take care of themselves. They'll be fine." She wasn't sure if she was saying it for everyone else's benefit or her own.

Riku, on the other hand, looked like he might have broken something. "We don't even know where they _are_,"

"Leave it to Dennis," murmured Holly with a shake of her head. "He knows that he can't take on everyone at once, so he's going to pick us off one by one." She was taken aback when she realized the majority of the group was fixing her with harsh stares. "What? I was just being honest."

"Then don't be," remarked Arach with an uncharacteristic amount of exasperation. "What the hell are we going to do?"

Although it killed Sora to say it, he replied, "Wait and hope for the best."

**XxxxxX**

"Kill _us_?" asked Stefa incredulously as she and Cane stared at Cane. "You can't kill us."

Chuckling, Cane nodded his head. "I'm afraid that's where you're wrong. The two of you are especially weak, particularly without your friends. You will both die here, and your bodies will never be found."

Nalani nodded in perfect understanding. "_That's _why you brought us here; it's because you're afraid of the others. That makes so much sense. I'd hate to burst your bubble, but Stef and I were kind of kicking your ass without anyone else's help before."

"But this works out much better. Now we won't get distracted by anyone else," decided Stefa before rushing at Cane with Dark Thorn raised. Looking extremely bored, Cane slashed his Keyblade horizontally and a breeze of darkness knocked her to the ground.

Distracted by his slight victory, Cane missed Nalani jumping up with Perfect Killer. He was knocked out of his stone throne chair and fell to the sandy ground. "Doesn't pay to be cocky now, does it?"

"I could say the same to you," replied Cane as he flipped over and watched as a few Neoshadows approached Nalani from behind. She quickly turned and killed them with a shot of thundaga magic.

Glowering, Nalani turned back to Quince's brother. "The fact that you keep sending Heartless at me is proof enough that you can't do anything on your own."

Cane raised his eyebrows. "Is it or are you just not a very good multi-tasker?" Dark Thorn knocked him into the air.

"Is it," answered Stefa as gracefully landed back on the ground. "What are you hoping to gain from bringing us here?"

A chilling smile slowly appeared on Cane's lips. "Your hearts." He snapped and disappeared in a flash of darkness. Aside from their breathing and the wind blowing in the realm of, Stefa guessed, darkness, there was no sound.

"Eerie," mumbled Nalani as she moved to stand beside Stefa. "I can't honestly believe that that's it."

"Then we probably shouldn't," decided Stefa as her eyes jumped from one place to the other around them. There was absolutely no movement except for the sand being picked up by the wind. A large shadow was cast over the two of them, and it only got bigger.

When they turned, they were facing none other than Darkside. "Why don't you get out here and fight with your _own _power, Cane?" shouted Nalani as she and Stefa backed away from the gigantic Heartless. "I'll see if I can find any trace of him. Can you take on Darkside?"

"I'm sure I could in my sleep," sighed Stefa before nodding a go-ahead to Nalani. When her best friend left her side, she surged forward to take care of the Heartless.

Nalani walked in the opposite direction of Darkside and Stefa with a guarded stance as she looked around for Niem, knowing full well that he could appear out of thin air at absolutely any moment.

Though she knew this, she hadn't been quite so prepared for him to strike her from behind with his Keyblade. "Do you want to see what the shadow in _your _heart looks like, Nalani? You have already seen the others' on numerous occasions."

"No, I'm great, thanks," answered Nalani before shooting a fira spell at Cane's knees. He easily deflected it with his own keyblade. "You know, you're never going to find the heart of Jewel's Grove in here."

"That's alright. So long as I shall live, I will have numerous opportunities to steal that heart. With my keyblade, I can do anything," remarked Cane with an affectionate smile directed at his weapon. "I can be quite patient and deal with the fact that I may not be able to destroy every Keyblade wielder. For now, I can settle with you and your friend."

The Staff of EaKaze flashed into Nalani's free hand, and she slashed both weapons at Cane. A medium-sized energy wave knocked Cane over and pushed him back a few feet. "Don't doubt our power."

Stefa blocked the rather large specks of darkness that were falling like snow. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." She climbed onto Darkside's back while it was hunched over and stabbed Dark Thorn into it once it stood back up. "This... works," she declared with surprise as Darkside searched the area for her. "Holy!" Channeling her light through the Keyblade, the magic attack expelled light into Darkside's body.

With a loud groan, Darkside fell to the ground but did not yet disappeared. Stefa was having a difficult time pulling Dark Thorn back out of the Heartless' back. "Great." As she worked at wrenching her weapon from Darkside's body, she noticed a huge explosion near where Nalani had gone. She bit down on her lip and yanked harder.

Nalani was at the very least pleased that her clothes had only ripped a little and she'd only been a bit cut up from Cane's explosion. "You're a complete godmodder!" she cried before rolling to the side to evade another explosion from Cane's Keyblade.

"No, no; I just happen to be extremely close to the almighty man himself," he acknowledged before a ring of Invisibles surrounded Nalani.

"In your craziest dreams, maybe," she murmured before casting a ring of firaga that pushed back the Heartless. "Why don't you actually take me on yourself?"

Even more Heartless appeared. "Because," began Cane with a smirk, "I'm waiting for something good to happen."

"... Good?" repeated Nalani as she narrowly avoided a Neoshadow's outstretched claws.

Cane nodded. "Very good," he decided as even more Pureblooded Heartless appeared and surrounded Nalani. Invisibles, Shadows, and Neoshadows jumped on Nalani like she was a football player holding the ball. She flailed with Perfect Killer, but she was being smothered by the Heartless.

Darkside abruptly stood back up before Stefa could dislodge her Keyblade from its back. She was thrown several feet away and hit the sand with a painful thud. Her vision was more than a little blurry as Darkside slowly approached her. The Heartless punched one of its hands into the ground near Stefa's feet and a pool of darkness formed. Shadows climbed out of the pool and covered Stefa at the same time as the darkness began to suck her under.

Things were not looking up for either Keyblade wielder.

**XxxxxX**

Nervousness and fear had a vice grip hold on Reixka. She paced in a circle around Quince's pacing circle only she moved faster and in the opposite direction. Even when separated, Nobodies tended to have a good connection to their Somebodies, and she wasn't liking the connection that she currently had. Reixka was still a very strange Nobody in most cases. The fact that she seemed to be able to truly feel was extremely odd, for one.

Then again, Axel, Roxas, and Naminé had been the same.

"What do you feel?" asked Naminé as Reixka's eyebrows furrowed and she moved a little faster. It would not have been a surprise if her pacing began to dig a hole into the grounds.

Reixka didn't want to concern the others, but she honestly answered, "Bad. Terrible. Not good." She spoke so fast that her words ran together.

Everyone looked at Sora, the undisputed leader of the group. "Well, Sora?" asked Arach with annoyance and concern. "We need to do something. Fast."

"There's nothing we can do," replied Sora, defeated.

Tilting her head back in order to stare at the sky, Reixka remarked, "That's where you're wrong." Attention shifted from the Keyblade Master to the Nobody.

**XxxxxX**

"I refuse to once again be sucked into the darkness," decided Stefa through gritted teeth as she mentally called out for her Keyblade. In a flash, Dark Thorn reappeared in her hand and the Shadows were forced off of her. Stefa pulled herself out of the pool of darkness and onto the sand before she flipped herself over with a backflip. _'I still got it.' _

Chewing on her lip, Stefa pointed Dark Thorn at Darkside. "Begone, oversized lug." Her weapon was engulfed by a black and white light which was then emitted from the tip of the Keyblade. It hit home right above the heart-shaped hole in Darkside's chest.

When the Heartless fell, a pool of darkness began to pool around it, so Stefa quickly ran in the direction Nalani had. Nalani was visible no longer, but Cane was. He was laughing madly. "Where's Nalani?" she demanded as she appeared behind him.

Cane whirled around and smiled. "You're going to have to make a choice, Princess," his gleeful but insane tone was almost painful to Stefa. "You have the chance to destroy me once and for all or help your friend."

"Where's Nalani?" repeated Stefa as she pointed Dark Thorn at him and tightened her grip on the hilt. "What did you do with her?"

Smiling, Cane replied, "I did nothing. The girl just wasn't skilled enough to banish the pile of Heartless off of her."

Although he didn't come right out and say it, Stefa knew what had happened. She knew, but she didn't want to face it. "Where is she?" asked Stefa once more with a softer and weaker tone.

A Neoshadow was twitching a foot or so behind Cane. The Heartless practically shone a beacon of light that screamed Nalani. "You turned her into a Heartless?!"

"No, she failed to prevent herself from being turned into one," answered Cane evenly with an evil glint in his eyes. Dark Thorn knocked into his chest and forced him to the ground.

"Turn her back."

"That's nearly an impossible feat. Even I, who can see the path of the Heartless, cannot turn them back into their original form. If I could, my name would be on the same level as yours, would it not?" Cane pushed Stefa roughly off of him and the Neoshadow, noticing the other Keyblade at last, scampered away. "So you choose me over your friend? Likely a wise choice. Too bad that I will be forced to take your heart, as well. Never fear, Princess. When I take your heart, it won't float somewhere as undeserving as Kingdom Hearts; no, I will take your heart and use it to my advantage."

A wave of darkness shot out from Cane's Keyblade once again, and Stefa was knocked backwards again. She fixed him with a glare. "I'm sorry that you won't get the opportunity. You may regard yourself as some sort of deity, but I refuse to let Nalani go." Stefa spared him not another second before she turned on her heel and followed the retreating Neoshadow further into the realm of darkness.

Grinning, Cane shook his head. "If only I could see how things are going to turn out. However, I have more pressing matters at hand." He lifted his hand, summoned a portal, and disappeared inside.

**XxxxxX**

"Let me get this straight," began Aidan with his arms folded as he regarded the other Nobody with an incredulous expression. "You want to go into a portal and allow your lack of a heart to guide you to your Somebody?"

Reixka nodded. "While you don't have to put it so... harshly, yes. That would indeed be the plan."

Sora was pleased that they had some sort of plan, but it seemed too risky for his tastes. "You could get completely lost wherever you wind up, and you might not be able to find your way back. Then what?" It wasn't in his personality to be so pessimistic, but they had a rather serious situation before them.

Much to Axel's displeasure, Reixka shrugged. "Then at least I could say that I tried?" Several protests sounded in response, but the Nobody shrugged once again. "I wasn't really _asking _for permission. I just wanted to get your opinions before going. If we don't, then something pretty bad is going to probably happen to Stefa and Nalani."

There was no use arguing with Reixka's undeniable logic. Arach nodded. "Try your best." Taking his blessing as everyone's blessing, Reixka nodded, called upon a dark portal, and entered it.

**XxxxxX**

Stefa wasn't sure how much time had passed, nor did she know if she had actually moved at all. Everything in the realm looked the same. "Nalani! Nalani, it's Stefa, please come out!" She realized that it was not the smartest thing to call out to a Heartless; the Heartless certainly wouldn't respond. But she remembered that Kairi was able to recognize Sora's Heartless for him and, on top of that, she was able to restore him to his true form.

Then again, that may have only happened because she was a Princess of Heart. But Stefa was a Princess of a _two-sided _heart. It was at least worth a shot; she refused to give up before trying.

After a few more minutes of calling out Nalani's name, she spotted a Neoshadow. Once again, she was sure that it was Nalani's because something in her all but screamed her best friend's name. Twitching, the Neoshadow looked up and noticed Stefa and her Keyblade. It ran once again.

"Wait!" cried Stefa as Dark Thorn disappeared and she ran after the Heartless. As she ran, another voice joined her own.

"What in all the hells are you _doing_?" Reixka, sounding like she feared for her Somebody's sanity, demanded. As she had expected, her portal had led her straight to Stefa.

Stefa glanced back at her. If she had not been so focused on catching up with Nalani's Heartless, then she probably would have asked Reixka the same question. "Nalani got transformed into a Heartless. We have to find her."

"Stefa, do you realize how crazy you sound?" asked the Nobody with her eyebrows raised. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

"No fucking way. I'm not leaving without Nalani," insisted Stefa as she spotted the Neoshadow's twitching form once again. When she caught up to it, it didn't run away this time around. Before the Neoshadow had the opportunity to run away again, Stefa surged forward and enveloped it in a sort of awkward hug.

Reixka was grinding her teeth together. "That thing is going to steal your fucking heart, and then we're going to have to somehow get you back -- _again_." Stefa disregarded her Nobody's words.

"Nalani, I know that's you. You can't be a Neoshadow Heartless. After all, you still have about a million babies to have with Arach," Stefa grimaced a little as the Neoshadow dug its claws into her back, "Please, Nalani, I know you're in there. I've lost too many people to lose you, too."

A flash of light starting from Stefa's heart began to slowly build outwards. As it engulfed the realm of darkness, it became too bright to bare and Reixka shielded her eyes.

**XxxxxX**

Breathing heavily with her hair clinging to her face and neck, Stefa shot into a sitting position in her bed. She glanced around the room and blinked. _'How... did I get here?' _As she brought her eyes to the mirror hanging on the back of her bedroom door, she thought of a better question. _'Why am I fifteen again?' _

Her room much resembled what it had when she'd been fifteen. All types of books, binders, and photo albums were crammed into the bookshelves of her desk. The rest of the room was visibly a mess although part of it was obscured by the cot she used when someone else slept over.

Nalani was soundlessly curled up beneath quite a few blankets on the cot. She was usually the one to inhabit the cot as she came over the most often. Pushing her too-long bangs out of her face, Stefa climbed out of bed and quietly exited the room.

The door to her uncle's room was wide open and sitting inside was her uncle and her dog, Midnight. "Look who's up!" remarked her uncle with a grin. "Is Nalani still sleeping?"

Stefa nodded. "Yeah." Midnight bounded out of her uncle's room and barreled into her. Her uncle exited his room and patted her on the head.

"I have to go out. Have a good morning, Stef," he said before planting a kiss on her head. Stefa scratched behind Midnight's ears before entering her mom's room.

Her mother turned around in her desk chair and fixed her with a surprised gaze. "Oh, you're awake. We have to get some stuff done today, honey." With a smile, she asked, "Nala still sleeping?"

Stefa nodded. "Yeah. I had a really weird dream, mom... Well, not weird. It was actually kind of bad. And long. It started off with Quince and Elie being evil, and then this world was lost, and I never saw you or uncle again and..."

Stefa's mother smiled and shook her head. "Honey, you and Nalani have some wild imaginations. It was just a dream; don't worry about it."

Nodding, Stefa pulled out of her mother's room and slid against the door. Midnight bounded towards her once again. It couldn't have been a dream. Quince, _Riku_, everyone... Did she really have that large of an imagination?

Her bedroom door flew open as Nalani, looking half-awake, exited and stared at her. "What're you doin', Stef?" she murmured groggily.

"Nalani, I had the strangest dream. Our world was lost to darkness and it was all Quince's fault -- I know, surprise, surprise -- and I thought I lost you, mom, and uncle. Well, alright, I lost mom and uncle, but you came back later because, as it turned out, Ceron saved you! But later, Ceron got killed by this really hot dude named Arach. Then, you got together with him and the two of you were constantly having PDA. During the whole course of the dream, I got with this really cute guy named Riku, then Quince, then Riku again, and then you lost your heart and--"

"Stefa!" Nalani, still overall tired, managed to shout over her best friend. "You've really been playing too many video games. Let me show you something; come here." Stefa followed Nalani back into her room.

Nalani reached out and grabbed a video game case off of the corner unit where Stefa's television was settled. As Nalani handed her the case, she stared at Stefa expectantly. The case had the heart-shaped moon, Kingdom Hearts, with Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy perched on a huge building. The title 'Kingdom Hearts' hovered at the top of the case.

"... It's just a game?" demanded Stefa with an incredulous expression. "Are you _kidding _me?" She collapsed onto her bed and allowed the case to fall to the ground. "Like anyone would make a game out of kids wielding giant keys."

**XxxxxX**

**(A/n: xDDD Got you. :3)**

Reixka, Stefa, and Nalani appeared on the path of darkness in End of the World. As had been the case with Sora and the others, there were no doors for them to use. Just a path that seemed to stretch on forever. "What did you do?" asked Reixka and Nalani in a unison that Stefa expected to never hear again in her life.

"I... I don't know. There was light, and now here we are." Frowning, Stefa added, "If there was light, then why are we in the darkness still?"

"I guess there's only so much that even you can do," answered Reixka with a grin. She blinked and put a hand to her chest. "Wow. That's... strange."

"What is?" asked Nalani and Stefa in a much more expected unison.

With her eyebrows drawn together, Reixka answered, "It feels like... I have a heart."

Nalani shook her head. "That can't be possible." She stood up, walked over to the Nobody, and put a hand to where Reixka's heart should be. A particularly vital organ was beating beneath the surface. "Or maybe it is."

Stefa rubbed the back of her head. "So I was able to give my Nobody a heart and save my friend from being a Heartless? That's what I call a good day," she remarked with a weak smile. The fact of the matter was that they were still trapped in the darkness. "Oh, wait. Call a portal, Reixka."

Before she even attempted to do so, Reixka knew it wouldn't work. She held out her hand and waited but only a weak puff of darkness appeared in response. "I guess that I don't belong in the darkness," murmured Reixka as she drew her hand to the side. "This is bad."

Before Stefa or Nalani could say anything, another bright light appeared and a set of large pink doors appeared. The three of them glanced briefly at each other before walking towards the doors. _'What is it that you want the most?' _A voice that Stefa had at one point hated spoke.

"You again," muttered Stefa with a shake of her head. She glanced back at the other two and managed a faint smile. "What do either of you think?"

**XxxxxX**

In Jewel's Grove, the others were beginning to get further nervous that Reixka had yet to reappear. A flash of light appeared in the sky and three figures dropped into the deep, watery pool beneath the waterfall. Naminé, Kairi, Roxas, and Holly jumped up as they were covered in water. Holly shook a little but appeared alright for the most part. **(A/n: Remember that Holly was extremely aqua-phobic in Beyond Black & White.) **

Gasping, Nalani, Reixka, and Stefa broke to the surface of the water. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to help us?" barked Reixka although her heart -- the thought made her smile -- wasn't in it. Axel reached out and pulled her out of the water. Holly and Arach grabbed Nalani while Quince and Riku, ignoring the other's presence, helped Stefa out of the water.

"Are you three okay?" asked Sora, unable to fight back a smile at the reappearance of the three girls.

"More than okay!" replied Reixka as she grabbed Axel's hand. "Feel." Her heart beat ferociously at his touch.

Roxas tilted his head to the side. "And Cane...?"

Stefa exhaled deeply. "I let him go; I had to."

"_Had _to?" repeated Aidan with an expression somewhere between disappointment and anger. "Do you realize what a danger he is?"

"Of course," replied Stefa, slightly annoyed by Aidan's tone. "But I thought restoring Nalani was more important. Cane sent a bunch of Heartless after her, and she had her heart stolen."

Riku pulled Stefa into a tight embrace. "Stef, you are some kind of amazing," he murmured into her hair.

"Cane is a godmodder," remarked Nalani, "he doesn't fight with his own hands. He kept sending out more and more Heartless."

Stefa nodded. "Yeah, that Heartless would have done us in well before he would have." Her mind settled on the last thing he'd said to her about her heart, but she shook it off. At the moment, she was just happy to be back with her friends.

"Let's get the hell out of here, rest a little, and we'll come up with a plan tomorrow," suggested Axel, who had his arms wrapped around Reixka.

"Agreed," said Sora as he fished keys to a Gummi ship out of his pocket. "Let's go."

Elie nodded and joined Nalani, Reixka, Stefa, and Quince by the pool. "We'll catch up!" she insisted as the others headed for the Gummi ship that had appeared out of seemingly no where. "I was thinking about it, and I think I know where the keyhole is."

"Really, where?" asked Quince with a surprised expression.

With her keyblade, Elie gestured to the bottom of the deep pool. "I thought it might have been behind the waterfall, but, had that been the case, one of us would have accidentally sealed it while we were fighting." Perfect Killer, Sakura Dawning, Maybe Memories, and Dark Thorn appeared.

"Are we going to have to swim down there?" asked Nalani as she eyed the water with distaste. Their Keyblades being abruptly tugged towards the sky answered her question. Five beams of light shot into the sky and were reflected into the deep water.

They stood, staring at the bottom of the pool for a few minutes. Something stirred inside of them all as the thought that they would likely never stand in the same spot together for a very long time struck them.

"I already talked with Arach, guys," remarked Nalani to the others, "I think we're going to be moving to Lomura Kai."

Stefa nodded. "If things go well, then I'll probably be going to Destiny Islands." Elie, Stefa, Nalani, and even Quince put their arms around each other. For a long time, the four of them had only dreamed of escaping their God forsaken home. Now that they would likely be doing so, they didn't want to leave.

Quince glanced at Stefa before staring back at the water.

Some things, maybe, were better left unsaid.

_'Go ahead and burn it down__.  
_

_I'm drunk and so is everyone else  
_

_In this devil town.  
_

_They wont let me turn around  
_

_To get one last look at my baby.'_

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**A/n: Aw, the very ending, coupled with Still Around, made me tear up. D; The ending lyrics were, obviously, from Still Around. :3 That was long, right? xD Next chapter will be the epilogue... The epilogue that I actually still have. Strange that I had chapter 16 and the epilogue but not this chapter. That's alright; I liked it better this way. Please review, and I will see you all in the epilogue. :33**


	18. Epilogue: My Only One

**Chapter 18 (Epilogue):**

My Only One

**A/n: Welcome to the epilogue, everyone! This takes place about a year after the last chapter and takes place at a wedding. I will honor all of my reviewers and have some extra stuff at the end of this. :3!**

_'Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you_

_You are my only one._

_I let go, but there's just no one that gets me like you_

_You are my only, my only one.'_

**-"My Only One" by Yellowcard**

**

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**

"I definitely think that it's not too late to leave." A woman, barely recognizable with her hair clean and pinned up beneath the long, white veil, remarked to the women surrounding her.

An auburn-haired woman wearing a silky red gown giggled. "Once you're in the gown and at the wedding, I think that it actually _is_ too late, Stefa. What are you so nervous about, anyway?"

"Oh, yeah, Kairi. Ask her what she's nervous about, that's a great idea." Another woman with two layers of brunette and black hair nicely decorated with some shiny barrettes remarked, grinning. "Now she'll definitely turn tail and head home."

"Somehow, I remember the two of you being completely freaked out at your own weddings." One of the last women in the room remarked as she adjusted her hair in the mirror. Her blond hair was curled, gelled, and pinned up.

"Naminé, I wasn't _that_ freaked out," argued the brunette as she fixed a piece of hair coming out of place on Stefa's head. "Besides, you were shaking like a leaf at yours!"

The second to last woman in the room laughed and got up from the couch she was sitting on to join in the conversation. "You remember Kairi? She took the car keys, started out the door, and Riku had to stop her! Ah, so classic..."

"Just wait until you find yourself a husband, Elie. Then we'll see what's funny." Kairi mumbled in an uncharacteristically dark tone to the other woman.

"Nalani, you're my best friend. Take me home. Now." Stefa barked roughly at her best friend of about fourteen years.

Nalani laughed and shook her head. "Stefa, I'm your best friend, so you have to listen to me, okay?" Slowly and hesitantly, Stefa nodded her head. "Do you think I'm going to hit you?" She asked, the corners of her mouth twitching at Stefa's frightened expression. In the same manner as before, Stefa nodded. Everyone in the room laughed. "Anyway, Stefa, you're making a great decision. Now, if you were marrying Quince, I'd boycott and then come in at last minute to stop you like in those old fashioned movies..."

At the look on her best friend's face, she regretted mentioning the name 'Quince'. "Did he come?" Stefa murmured in a discouraged tone. Elie heaved a sigh and shook her head.

"You'd think that _Stefa_ did something wrong with the way he's acting." Naminé said under her breath, shaking her head.

"I think we should drop this subject, guys," pointed out the last woman in the room as Stefa's expression became more and move crestfallen. This woman was similarly dressed as the others, and she bore a strong resemblance to Stefa. Her long, brunette hair was curled loosely and she had a bunch of barrettes stuck in it.

"Don't you dare cry and ruin that makeup, Stef. If I have to redo it, the wedding will have to start even later." Nalani warned Stefa as she brandished a bottle of liquid eyeliner. "Speaking of, I should finish up what I started. Close your eyes." At Nalani's command, Stefa obeyed, and Nalani began to put it on like an expert makeup artist.

"I don't honestly think there's a point in putting on makeup," The woman that resembled Stefa remarked, even though she was wearing makeup, too. "The moisture from the ocean's breeze is just going to make it run..."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "You don't mind if I throw a glass of water on your face, then, right, Reixka?" She asked as she picked up a glass off of the vanity. Everyone managed a laugh, even Stefa. Naminé, Nalani, Kairi, Reixka, and more or less Elie had the jobs of keeping Stefa together on her wedding day: It was in the job description of a bride's maid. Still, keeping Stefa calm was costing the rest of them their sanity.

"Do you have any idea of the gender yet, Nala?" Naminé asked the brunette with ease. At one point, they hadn't really known Nalani that well, but now they were all so close that it was amazing. Everyone, at least the girls, was so at ease with each other.

Nalani put a hand to the tiny bump of her stomach after she finished one of Stefa's eyelids. She couldn't be sure, but she was pretty sure that she had become pregnant _before_ marrying Arach. Then again, she was lucky that she hadn't become pregnant at eighteen. Damn Arach and his sex. "Don't know yet." She admitted. "I never really thought of myself as a mothering type, but, I better get used to it. I'll probably have hundreds of kids some day..."

"I told you," Stefa, with her eyes still closed, remarked.

"Liquid eyeliner can be used as a weapon at times, you know." Nalani replied with a large grin. Stefa immediately fell quiet. "Anyway, has anyone found any leads on Cane or my Nobody?"

A wedding was supposed to be peaceful, yet there they stood talking about something dangerous while helping the bride get ready. Naminé shook her head. "No one's had any luck; it's like he's fallen off the face of the earth."

"Thank God." Elie mumbled.

"Of course he won't reappear until we least expect it, so we have to be ready _all _the time." Kairi groaned, shaking her head. "He knows how to get into people's heads, too, so he has that one over us..."

"Yeah, I've heard that all mental cases know how to ignore the voices long enough to push someone else's buttons." Stefa stated with a laugh. She was more at ease now, which was funny, considering what they were talking about.

Elie randomly burst out laughing for a whole other reason. "I can't believe you're getting married on the beach."

Everyone stared at her like she had lost a mind before they laughed, too. "God, you're crazy." Nalani cried, wiping her eyes as they teared up from laughing. "Ah, shit, there goes my makeup!" They were still laughing like a pack of hyenas when Stefa's cousin, Jake, poked his head in.

"Are you girls almost ready?"

Kairi nodded. "Just a minute or so more, okay?" Jake nodded back and pulled out of the room.

"Alright, you're all done, Barbie." Nalani told Stefa as she put away the eyeliner brush. When they were younger, Nalani had always enjoyed taking a brush out of Stefa's hand **(A/n: Ah, that originally said 'taking a hand out of Stefa's brush' O.o) **and brushing the blonde's hair herself. After so many times of this happening, Stefa had remarked that Nalani treated her like her own, personal Barbie.

Naminé looked toward Elie. "You're first, remember?" Elie nodded.

"Yep. I'm with Laurence."

"At least he's gay?" Stefa pointed out, but this only made Elie groan.

"Why are the cute ones _always_ gay?"

Nalani smiled. "You're starting to sound like Laurence himself! Well, while you're walking down the aisle, strike up a conversation to make him un-gay? I suggest talking about boobs and stuff like that." She joked, but Elie seriously seemed to consider it as she skipped out of the room.

Kairi and Sora's house was right off the beach, so they were preparing Stefa in the large, downstairs bathroom. To have a house as big as they did, they must have been _loaded_. Or gotten some help from their parents. Either or. "She's going to talk about ten million inappropriate things while they're walking down the aisle..." sighed Naminé.

Reixka grinned. "Good, that shakes things up a bit."

Nalani smiled. "Look on the bright side: At least we're not in a church." After a while, Naminé and Kairi left the house, having to join up with Sora and Roxas respectively. Of course they'd be walking down the aisle with Sora and Roxas, their husbands. Sora was also the best man. Again, surprise, surprise. When she heard the front door close, Nalani added, "Are you ready for this?"

Stefa laughed nervously: It was high-pitched. "As ready as I'll ever be? This is God's punishment for my turning down Riku's proposal the first time. I always get so nervous about silly things. Driving days in Driver's Ed, boss fights in video games, etc." Nalani might have ruffled Stefa's hair had it not been for the fact that it had taken hours to do. She flipped down the veil over Stefa's face, and they walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to the back door so that they could heard the organ when it played.

"Stop being mean to yourself for one day. This is your wedding, have fun with it! Besides, there's the reception to look forward to..." Nalani pointed out.

Stefa sighed. "Too bad we're not old enough to drink." Very lightly, Nalani elbowed Stefa in the arm.

"Aren't you two proper?" Reixka remarked with a small smile. It was so good to _feel_ amused, excited, and happy.

"Better be nice, Rei. I know that I'm bound to be a bride's maid at _your_ wedding, and I _will_ use that to my advantage. Anyway, shouldn't you go?" Stefa asked without heat. Her hands were shaking a little. Reixka nodded, patted Stefa on the head, and left the house to walk down the aisle with Axel. All of the other girls called it practice for the two of them.

Jake entered the house and nodded to Nalani. "Alright, you're up. We'll be right after you."

Nalani, the Matron of Honor, nodded and gave Stefa's hand a brief squeeze before she set outside to be joined by Arach. **(A/n: I know that the matron of honor sometimes pairs with the best man, but... I'm being original? xD)** "How are we doing, bride?" He asked with a big grin. When Stefa didn't smile, his dropped off of his face. "Come on, Stefa... Cheer up!"

It was unusual for her cousin to try and cheer her up, so Stefa managed a small smile before looping her arm through his. "Jake, thanks for doing this. You know you don't _have_ to, right?"

Jake chuckled and gave her hand a pat. ."If I don't, then who will?" It was true. With her father being MIA, and her uncle being... gone... there really was no other close male to do it.

"Well, again, thank you." She mumbled, staring at he led her outside, closer to the beach. Someone else entered the room and Stefa, expecting it to be Riku, turned away. The man who entered the room was tall, had spiky blond hair, and bright blue eyes. "C-Cloud?"

Cloud smiled and nodded. "Jake, I know that you're Stefa's cousin, but I was wondering if..."

Grinning, Jake took his arm from Stefa's and lightly pulled her towards Cloud. "You acted like something of a father to her when she came to the Radiant Garden. I think this is the least that Stef and I can do to show you our appreciation." Stefa smiled warmly at her cousin; leave it to him to do a good thing at the most unexpected tone. "Break a leg, Stef." With that, Jake left the room.

"You look beautiful, Stefa," said Cloud as she looped her arm through his. She blushed faintly.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "You really wanted to walk me down the aisle?"

Cloud's smile became a bit more pronounced as he nodded. "Yes. Aside from that, Tifa may have advised me to do it just in case you decided to back out."

Laughing, Stefa remarked, "That makes sense. It's a good thing you came in because Jake and I were just about to sneak out. Of course, I'm joking."

"Don't be so nervous, Stefa. You look beautiful, and Riku is a good husband for you." The organ began to play and steadily became louder as they took a few more steps closer. Stefa looked at Cloud, who was still smiling. "It's time, come on." They walked some more until they were at the beginning of the white tarp that would serve as the carpet. Stefa could see Riku's smiling face...

"I can't do it, let's go." She squealed quietly as they began to walk down the aisle in time with the music.

Cloud fought back a laugh and continued to look straight ahead. As they passed Jake, who was sitting with the audience, stated, "That's what you used to say about roller coasters, too, and you loved them afterward. Just think of this like that. The waiting is nervous, but once you're there, you know it'll be great."

Stefa giggled quietly, and it wasn't quite that nervous sounding. "Great way to put it, Jake," she murmured as they passed her cousin. Nalani waved from where she stood on the bride's side with Naminé and the others. When they reached the altar, Cloud released her arm, pated her arm, and stepped off to the side.

"Dearly Beloved," began the priest as he read from the book. Riku smiled at Stefa; he seemed so confident.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her very quietly.

"Scared?" She half-asked, half-said.

Riku laughed. "That should offend me, but I know you, so it doesn't. Trust me, Stefa. This will work out." She stared into his bright, sea foam green eyes, and suddenly, she knew. She _knew_.

Something else she knew was that they had talked through most of the priest's spiel. When it came to be her turn, Stefa hastily said, "I do!" Some people in the audience laughed, while all of the bride's maids, Sora, Jake, and Cloud joined in.

Riku then said "I do", too. "You may kiss the bride!" The priest proclaimed, and Stefa suddenly couldn't wait.

She was ready to spend the rest of her life with Riku. Hopefully there wasn't any more Keyblade-wielding involved.

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**A/n: Alrighty, that's it. :3 The sequel, the Rest of My Life, has (obviously) already been started. So you should go and read it now. x3**

**Now, for some extra stuff:**

**Song Titles:**

**2. Dance, Dance Christa Paffgen by Anberlin**

**4. Sandome no Sakura by High and Mighty Color**

**5. Rescue Me by Hawthorne Heights**

**6. No. 5 by Hollywood Undead**

**7. Say (All I Need) by One Republic**

**8. Could Tell A Love by Blessthefall **

**9. Franklin by Paramore**

**10. I Don't Know by lostprophets**

**11. Mama by My Chemical Romance**

**12. Dance of the Manatee by Fair to Midland**

**13. Falling by Staind**

**14. Everything That Makes Me Sick by the Almost**

**15. Wolf In Sheep's Clothing by This Providence**

**16. Carpal Tunnel of Love by Fall Out Boy**

**17. Apparently Hoverboards Don't Work On Water by Hawthorne Heights**

**18. My Only One by Yellowcard**

**Thank you to all of my reviewers, especially Lesser, Catharsis, and Bonbon. ALSO. Thank you thank you thank you to princessdarkfairy and K.L. K.L, if it hadn't been for you, I'm not sure when I would have gotten this story back up. Dx; Seriously. Thanks to all your reviews, I was able to continuously update this story with confidence that people liked it. So thanks so much, you guys! I hope you continue on to the sequel and read any of my other stories. Now, here's a tidbit on a few characters.**

**Stefa** - Her inspiration is so obvious that it hurts; She's me! In some ways. Her attitude is sort of like mine, but not really. Her appearance is also... kinda mine, only she's taller and skinnier. xD Much prettier, too, but I wanted characters without physical flaws, I guess. She was supposed to just be an average girl with a life that was boring and slowly 'killing' her. Who would've thought that her adventures would change her life that much. Anyway, as I'm sure you've all noticed by now, she is forever cursed to be extremely clumsy... and rash. xD' It's always gotten her into a lot of trouble, but I'd like to think she's come a long way from being the damsel in distress she was in Two-sided Heart.

**Kaeli** - I didn't realize it until Chapter 10, but she was almost like Naminé in Castle Oblivion. She's lonely because she's the only one of her kind, but she's forced into fighting because she would've been killed otherwise. Anyway, she's kinda pitiful, but I really grew to like her. She was supposed to be a Luce from the beginning, and the fact that she appeared in the Dark realm in chapter 10 was relevant because it led to her destruction as her 'threads unwound', if you will; She was never supposed to live again, but I really missed her. She can be pretty noble. I pictured her to be like a younger female Saïx in appearance--but with brown skin.

**Reixka** - She was really based off of no one other than the... darker traits of mine, I suppose. I'm pretty surprised I made her a Somebody. I always wanted to give her a heart, but it was only thanks to Lesser and Bonbon that it happened.

**Nalani** - Her inspiration is also very obvious. She is based off of my best friend, Kristi. Or, Lesser, for the rest of you. Nalani's a very determined person, and she's often in a situation where she has to help Stefa by giving her a reason to keep fighting or what have you. She really is like Kristi.

**Holly** - I love her. Have I ever mentioned that she's my favorite dark wielder? She's just... wonderful. Great. I love her attitude, and she's not fickle... unlike Destine and Tiesa. x3 Her Keyblade, Diamond Sky, came to me when I was thinking of one of my favorite Beatles songs "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" It is, indeed, a song about getting high. xD' However, I just thought of diamonds (which I associate with Holl) and sky (b/c that's what her Keyblade is) and just put them together. xD No, she does not get high.

**Ceron** - His inspiration also comes from a true person. I never was planning to kill him, but it did happen. He was never going to come back, either. Originally, Hades was going to use it to his advantage and force Nalani into doing things for him, but I was really stupid during this whole story. xD I kinda miss him, actually. His name will come up in the next story.

**Laurence** - My second favorite wielder. His name is based off Laurent's from Twilight. xD He is nothing like him. His attitude is mostly Jakotsu's from Inuyasha. One of my favorite things about him is his sexual orientation, but not because I'm a yaoi fangirl. I really just admire people who can openly say they're gay, I guess. It will never change either, guys. xD He's kinda a man whore, too. x3

**Elie** - She was based off my old reviewer, crescent moon. I started to feel like she was an extra last story, which is kinda why I killed her, but not really. I like that she comes back because she's like another sister to Stefa. Besides, she can kick Quince's ass. I love her Keyblade and her Dragon, Ladon.

**Quince** - I'm ashamed to say who's he's based off, so I'll only say that he's based off of a couple different people. I was always afraid that he'd be like Riku, so I'm glad he's not. He's a bit more pessimistic, and he lacks the nice sarcasm that Riku has. His [sarcasm] is... darker. He also messes up a _lot_, but he does try to make up for them... The reasons for his cheating on Stefa... are still unknown. To you guys, at least. x

**And that's it. Please stick around for the next story. It'll be out soon! Thank you to everyone who has been following the series so far!**


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